Sysco Corporation (SYY)

Sysco reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 sales of $21.7 billion on 3 November 2026, up 2.8 percent 1. Net earnings rose 10.5 percent to $526 million, while operating income fell 10.4 percent to $717 million because of acquisition costs tied to Jetro Restaurant Depot 1.

The largest open question is the purchase of Jetro Restaurant Depot, a cash-and-carry food wholesaler, agreed on 30 March 2026 for about $29.1 billion in cash and stock 3. Sysco says it expects the deal to close by the third quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to regulatory clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act 3.

A trade publication reported on 8 October that the Federal Trade Commission review was still open and that the companies were answering requests for additional information 7.

Chief executive Kevin Hourican named three priorities for the year, including AI-powered improvement of operating margins and preparing for the expected closing of the Jetro deal 1. Chief financial officer Brandon Sewell said full-year sales growth is now expected at the lower end of a 6 percent to 7 percent range, reflecting lower inflation 1. Sysco kept its guidance for adjusted earnings per share growth of 9 percent to 11 percent 1.

The board appointed Sewell executive vice president and chief financial officer effective 1 November 2026, after he served as interim chief financial officer since 6 March 2026 2.

Sysco was founded in 1969 and began as a public company in March 1970, when the stockholders of nine companies exchanged their stock for Sysco stock 4. Annual sales have grown from $115 million to an all-time high of $84.6 billion in fiscal 2026, through growth at existing sites and through acquisitions 4.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit fiscal 2020, because activity in eating out dropped sharply 11. Sales fell 12.0 percent to $52.9 billion and net earnings fell 87.1 percent to $215.5 million 11. Sysco borrowed $1.8 billion on its revolving credit facility in the second half of that year to protect its cash position 11.

Since the pandemic began, Sysco also added $1.0 billion of new national customer business on an annualized basis 11.

Fiscal 2021 brought a slower recovery in sales, down another 3.0 percent to $51.3 billion, but operating income rose 91.8 percent to $1.4 billion as the business recovered and spending stayed disciplined 12. Sysco used the better cash flow to pay down $3.4 billion of debt 13.

Sales in fiscal 2022 set a record, rising 33.8 percent to $68.6 billion, which the company tied to growth in volumes and its Recipe for Growth strategy 13. That year Sysco bought Greco and Sons, Paragon Foodservice and The Coastal Companies, among others, and a UK specialty food distributor, and used $1.3 billion in cash on acquisitions 13.

In fiscal 2024 sales rose 3.3 percent to $78.8 billion on volume growth, partly from acquisitions, and on inflation 14. Sysco bought BIX Produce, Edward Don (a Chicago kitchen equipment and supplies distributor), Ready Chef and Jacmar Foodservice Distribution that year, with $1.2 billion of cash used on acquisitions 1415.

Fiscal 2025 sales grew 3.2 percent to $81.4 billion, but operating income fell 3.6 percent to $3.1 billion because of a noncash goodwill impairment charge in the Guest Worldwide hotel supply business 15. Fiscal 2026 sales grew 3.9 percent to $84.6 billion on inflation and volume, while operating income rose only 0.2 percent 4.

The 10-K lists sales headcount investments, restructuring and transformation project costs, higher incentive pay and higher acquisition costs as what held fiscal 2026 operating income nearly flat 4. In that year Sysco paid $189 million, net of cash acquired, mainly for Fairfax Meadow, a UK specialty meat supplier, and Ginsberg’s Foods, a broadline distributor in eastern New York 4.

What Sysco sells and to whom

Sysco distributes food and related products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other foodservice customers, mainly in North America and Europe 4. Restaurants were 59 percent of fiscal 2026 sales, education and government 8 percent, healthcare 8 percent and travel and leisure 7 percent 4. Fresh and frozen meats were 20 percent of the product mix, and no single customer was 10 percent or more of sales 4.

U.S. Foodservice Operations

This segment holds the U.S. Broadline business plus specialty units such as FreshPoint produce, Buckhead | Newport Meat & Seafood, the Greco & Sons Italian platform and Edward Don restaurant equipment 4. It had fiscal 2026 sales of $58.8 billion, up 3.2 percent, and operating income of $3.5 billion, 6.0 percent of its sales 4. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027 its sales rose 2.4 percent to $15.1 billion and local case volume rose 2.7 percent 1.

Sysco-branded products, made to its specifications, earn a higher gross margin than other private brands, so the company tracks their share of cases 4. Sysco Brand products were 35.8 percent of U.S. Broadline cases in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 1.

International Foodservice Operations

Outside the United States, Sysco distributes in Canada, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Panama, and in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Sweden 4. Segment sales were $16.0 billion in fiscal 2026, up 7.6 percent, with operating income of $463 million 4. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027 sales rose 5.1 percent to $4.2 billion and adjusted operating income rose 12.2 percent to $165 million 1.

SYGMA and Guest Worldwide

SYGMA does customized distribution for quick-service chain restaurant locations and had fiscal 2026 sales of $8.6 billion and operating income of $94 million 4. Guest Worldwide, the hotel supply operation, sits in Other with sales of $1.1 billion 4.

Sites, fleet and people

At the end of fiscal 2026 Sysco occupied 333 distribution facilities with about 58.7 million square feet, including 201 in the United States, 45 in the United Kingdom and 41 in France 4. The fleet was about 19,000 delivery vehicles, and the company employed about 75,000 people, 52,000 of them in the U.S. 4. About 14 percent of employees were represented by unions, mainly the Teamsters and unions in France and Sweden 4.

People in charge

Kevin Hourican is Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, first in that post in 2024, after serving as president and chief executive of Sysco from 2020 to 2025 4. Brandon Sewell, 47, is the chief financial officer from 1 November 2026 after an interim term that began in March 42.

Two directors joined on 1 September 2026: Jason Murray, co-founder and chief executive of Shipium, and Thomas Ondrof, a former chief financial officer of Aramark 910. The board renamed its technology committee the Artificial Intelligence Transformation and Technology Committee 10.

Rivals

The 10-K says customers can choose among many broadline foodservice distributors, specialty distributors, club stores, cash and carry stores, grocery stores and online retailers, and that switching costs are very low 4. Sysco estimates it serves about 18 percent of an approximately $377 billion annual U.S. foodservice market, using Technomic data for calendar year 2025 4.

Problems and reviews

Hourican cited continued softness in restaurant foot traffic, higher than expected fuel costs and lower than expected U.S. food cost inflation in the first quarter 1. On the Jetro deal, restaurant owners organized by the Independent Restaurant Coalition met congressional and agency staff in September, arguing that Sysco owning both businesses could remove an independent purchasing alternative 7. Regulators have not announced findings 7.

The umbrella, in words

Sysco sells under its own brand and through named units: FreshPoint (fresh produce), Buckhead | Newport Meat & Seafood (specialty protein), Greco & Sons (Italian specialty), Edward Don (restaurant equipment and supplies) and Guest Worldwide (hotel supply) 4. Its subsidiaries exhibit lists entities such as Bahamas Food Services Limited and Bellissimo Distribution, LLC, and Greco and Sons divisions in several states, and leaves out insignificant ones 16.

Sysco owns no stake in Jetro Restaurant Depot yet: it has agreed by contract to acquire JRD Unico and Warehouse Realty, with the deal not closed 5. JRD operates 167 large-format warehouse stores across 35 states 4.

Sysco owns its approximately 634,000 square foot headquarters complex in Houston and about 63.6 percent of the floor space in its distribution facilities 4. Its fleet of about 19,000 vehicles is about 88 percent owned 4.

As of 16 September 2026, holders of over 5 percent were BlackRock affiliates (7.72 percent), Vanguard affiliates (7.32 and 5.46 percent) and State Street affiliates (5.41 percent) 9. These are investment managers filing Schedule 13G, not controlling owners 9.

Sysco says the Jetro transactions are expected to close by the third quarter of fiscal 2027 3. The merger agreement lets either side end it if closing has not happened by 30 September 2027, with one automatic six-month extension in some cases 5. If it ends for failure to win antitrust approval, Sysco in certain circumstances pays a $1.164 billion termination fee 5.

On closing, each Sysco share is to convert into a share of a new holding company, expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under SYY 5. Jetro’s equity holders are expected to own about 16 percent and Sysco’s stockholders about 84 percent 3. Jetro Restaurant Depot is to run as a standalone segment, headquartered in Whitestone, New York, under Richard Kirschner, who is to report to Hourican 6.

Sysco said on 30 March that it planned to fund the cash part with $21 billion of new debt and hybrid debt and $1 billion of cash on hand, equity or equity-linked securities 6. The 10-Q says the remaining financing for the cash part was completed in October 2026, including $10.75 billion of senior notes issued on 6 October 3. A September amendment added a $750 million delayed draw term loan for acquisitions 8.

In March Sysco said it was pausing share repurchases to cut debt quickly and intended to reduce net leverage by at least 1.0x in the first 24 months after closing 6. It said it would keep its dividend amount and its Dividend Aristocrat status 6. The 10-K says no repurchases are anticipated in fiscal 2027 4.

Sysco expects about $250 million of annualized net cost synergies within three years of closing, mostly from buying and inbound supply chain savings 6. It also sees room for 125 or more new Jetro Restaurant Depot locations over at least the next two decades, though the trade press notes the proposal does not guarantee that new stores will open 67.

For fiscal 2027 the company reiterated adjusted earnings per share growth of 9 percent to 11 percent on local volume growth of about 2.5 percent 1. It expects about $100 million of savings from AI and efficiency work, with benefits accelerating in the second half 1. Fiscal 2027 is a 53-week year ending 3 July 2027, and net capital spending is expected near $720 million 4.

The annual meeting is set for 13 November 2026, held virtually, where stockholders vote on electing 12 directors, an advisory vote on executive pay and ratifying Ernst & Young as auditor for fiscal 2027 9. The 10-K also notes that about 26 percent of union U.S. employees are covered by agreements up for renegotiation in fiscal 2027 4.

Past

Sysco Corporation's revenue grew from $55 billion in fiscal 2017 to $85 billion in fiscal 2026, up 4.8% a year; it rose in 7 of 9 years; the deepest fall was 15% from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2021; net income was positive in 7 of 7 of those years Over the 3 fiscal years to 2026-06-27, the diluted share count shrank about 1.9% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 70% of its operating cash flow over 3 years Officers and directors filed 8 sales (7 under scheduled 10b5-1 plans) and 1 purchase of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-10-02, buying about $1 million 1

Sysco Corporation's filings since 2017 show no warning events in the scan: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice 1

Present

In its latest annual figures on file, for the fiscal year ended 2026-06-27, it reported revenue of $85 billion and a profit of $1.8 billion In the fiscal year ended 2026-06-27, Sysco Corporation earned about 66 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, and its products earned about 55 cents per dollar of everything the company owns; it owed about 91 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 1.9% over the year 21

Sysco Corporation's revenue of $85 billion in fiscal 2026 ranks in the top 1% by size among 35 graded names in its industry family; a net margin of 2.1% ranks in the top 30%; revenue growth of 3.5% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the top 33% The chief executive on the record is Hourican, Kevin (Chair and CEO, as filed), filing under that title since 2020-02-07, 6.7 years (top 30% of its family); the 25 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of 4.8 years (bottom 25%) 1

Future

A quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the quarter ending 2026-09-30 is due by 2026-11-09 under the SEC's rules An annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ending 2027-06-27 is due by 2027-08-26 under the SEC's rules 3

Sysco Corporation's cash of $1.8 billion against debt of $12 billion leaves -37.1% of its assets as net cash, bottom 13% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 2.3% of revenue (top 37%); a gross margin of 18.5% (top 42%) Revenue grew 3.5% a year over the last three filed years against 4.8% over all 10, slowing (top 44% of its family); the newest year grew 3.9% (top 41%); capital spending grew -4.1% a year (top 45%) 1

How the company operates

Sysco Corporation is a distribution business in the Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products sector In fiscal 2026, revenue came from U. S.Foodservice Operations at 70%, International Foodservice Operations at 19%, Sygma at 10%, and All Other at 1%; by geography, the United States accounted for 81%, Canada 8%, the United Kingdom 5%, Other 3%, France 2%, and Sweden 1% 2

Sysco Corporation reported 4 lines of business in fiscal 2026: U. S.Foodservice Operations at $59 billion (70%), International Foodservice Operations at $16 billion (19%), Sygma at $8.6 billion (10%), and 1 more; 3 of 4 grew against the year before 1

New moves

On 2026-10-06, a current report filed a major agreement signed and new debt or an obligation taken on On 2026-09-25, a current report filed a major agreement signed and new debt or an obligation taken on On 2026-09-14, a large filer's shelf registration was filed, ready for sale On 2026-09-04, a current report filed a major agreement signed, new debt or an obligation taken on, and an officer or director change On 2026-09-04, a merger communication was filed 3