Sysco Corporation: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

Public health crises, pandemics and epidemics could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and disrupt the operations of our business partners, suppliers and customers. We cannot predict with certainty the extent to which our operations may be impacted in the future by the effects of public health crises, pandemics, or epidemics on us or on our business partners, suppliers and customers. Fear of these or similar events may alter consumer confidence, behavior and spending patterns, and could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries (or globally), resulting in an economic downturn that could affect customers’ demand for our products. In response to public health crises, governmental authorities in many countries in which we, our customers and our suppliers are present and operate, may impose mandatory closures, seek voluntary closures and impose restrictions on, or advisories with respect to, travel, business operations and public gatherings or interactions. Among other matters, these actions could require or strongly urge various venues where foodservice products are served, including restaurants, schools, hotels and cruise liners, to reduce or discontinue operations, which could adversely affect demand in the foodservice industry, including demand for our products and services. Any future outbreak of a public health crisis, pandemic, or epidemic that adversely affects our business, results of operations and financial condition, could also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC, such as those risks relating to our level of indebtedness, and may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Public health crises, pandemics and epidemics could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic adversely impacted our business, results of operations and financial condition directly and disrupted the operations of our business partners, suppliers and customers. While our operations have generally stabilized since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot predict with certainty the extent to which our operations may be impacted in the future by any similar effects of a more severe variant of COVID-19 or other public health crises, pandemics, or epidemics on us or on our business partners, suppliers and customers. Fear of these or similar events may further alter consumer confidence, behavior and spending patterns, and could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries (or globally), resulting in an economic downturn that could affect customers’ demand for our products. In response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and its development into a pandemic, governmental authorities in many countries in which we, our customers and our suppliers were present and operated, imposed mandatory closures, sought voluntary closures and imposed restrictions on, or advisories with respect to, travel, business operations and public gatherings or interactions. Among other matters, these actions required or strongly urged various venues where foodservice products were served, including restaurants, schools, hotels and cruise liners, to reduce or discontinue operations, which adversely affected demand in the foodservice industry, including demand for our products and services. The future outbreak of a public health crisis, pandemic, or epidemic could cause some governmental authorities to reintroduce similar restrictions in the future, which could adversely affect demand in the foodservice industry. Any future outbreak of a public health crisis, pandemic, or epidemic that adversely affects our business, results of operations and financial condition, could also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC, such as those risks relating to our level of indebtedness, and may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.