TD SYNNEX Corporation (SNX) Risk Factors

From time to time, we have experienced incidents of theft at various facilities, water damages to our properties and other casualty events. These types of incidents may make it more difficult or expensive for us to obtain insurance coverage in the future. Also, the same or similar incidents may occur in the future for which we may not have sufficient insurance coverage or policy limits to be fully compensated for the loss, which may have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.

We are dependent in large part on our ability to retain the services of our key senior executives and other technological and industry experts and personnel. Except for certain of our key executives, we generally do not have employment agreements with our co-workers. We also do not carry "key person" insurance coverage for any of our key executives. We compete for qualified senior management and technical personnel. The loss of, or inability to hire, key executives or qualified co-workers could inhibit our ability to operate and grow our business successfully.

The IT products industry is subject to rapid technological change, new and enhanced product specification requirements, and evolving industry standards. These changes may cause inventory on hand to decline substantially in value or to rapidly become obsolete. Most of our OEM suppliers offer limited protection from the loss in value of inventory. For example, we can receive a credit from many OEM suppliers for products held in inventory in the event of a supplier price reduction. In addition, we have a limited right to return a certain percentage of purchases to most OEM suppliers. These policies are often subject to time restrictions and do not protect us in all cases from declines in inventory value. In addition, our OEM suppliers may become unable or unwilling to fulfill their protection obligations to us. The decrease or elimination of price protection, or the inability of our OEM suppliers to fulfill their protection obligations, could lower our gross margins and cause us to record inventory write-downs. If we are unable to manage our inventory with our OEM suppliers with a high degree of precision, we may have insufficient product supplies or we may have excess inventory, resulting in inventory write-downs, either of which could harm our business, financial position and operating results.

We could be negatively impacted by the widespread outbreak of an illness or any other communicable disease, such as the outbreak of COVID-19 that occurred during fiscal 2020, or any other public health crisis that results in economic and trade disruptions, including the disruption of global supply chains. The extent of the impact of any such public health crisis on our future operational and financial performance, including our ability to execute our business strategies and initiatives in the expected time frame, could depend on future developments, including the effect on our customers and demand for our products and services; our ability to sell and provide our products and services, including as a result of travel restrictions and people working remotely; the ability of our customers to pay for our solutions; any closures of our or our customers' or partners' offices and facilities; and the impact of governmental actions or mandates imposed in response to any such public health crisis, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. An extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption could materially affect our business, our results of operations, our access to sources of liquidity, the carrying value of our goodwill and intangible assets, our financial condition and our stock price.

Approximately 47%, 45% and 37% of our revenues in fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, were generated outside the United States. Most of our international revenue, cost of revenue and operating expenses are denominated in foreign currencies. We presently have currency exposure arising from both sales and purchases denominated in foreign currencies. Changes in exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar may adversely affect our operating margins. For example, if these foreign currencies appreciate against the U.S. dollar, it will be more expensive in terms of U.S. dollars to purchase inventory or pay expenses with foreign currencies. This could have a negative impact on us if revenue related to these purchases is transacted in U.S. dollars. In addition, currency devaluation can result in products that we purchase in U.S. dollars being relatively more expensive to procure than products manufactured locally. Furthermore, our local competitors in certain markets may have different purchasing models that provide them reduced foreign currency exposure compared to us. This may result in market pricing that we cannot meet without significantly lower profit on sales. We hedge some of our exposure to changes in foreign exchange rates through the use of currency forward or option contracts. Hedging foreign currencies can be risky. Certain of these hedge positions are undesignated hedges of balance sheet exposures, such as intercompany loans, and typically have maturities of less than one year. While we maintain policies to protect against fluctuations in currency exchange rates, extreme fluctuations may result in our incurring losses in some countries. There is also additional risk if the currency is not freely or actively traded. Some currencies, such as the Chinese Renminbi are subject to limitations on conversion into other currencies, which can limit our ability to hedge or to otherwise react to rapid foreign currency devaluations. We cannot predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations on our business and operating results. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative trading purposes, nor do we hedge our foreign currency exposure in a manner that entirely offsets the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates. As a general rule, we do not use financial instruments to hedge local currency denominated operating expenses in countries where a natural hedge exists. For example, in many countries, revenue from the local currency services substantially offsets the local currency denominated operating expenses. The translation of the financial statements of foreign operations into U.S. dollars is also impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, which may positively or negatively impact our results of operations. For example, in the past, several foreign currencies in which we transact business depreciated against the U.S. dollar, including the euro and the Japanese yen, which adversely affected the results of operations of our Europe and APJ segments in that year. In addition, the value of our equity investment in foreign countries may fluctuate based upon changes in foreign currency exchange rates. These fluctuations, which are recorded in a cumulative translation adjustment account, may result in losses in the event a foreign subsidiary is sold or closed at a time when the foreign currency is weaker than when we made investments in the country. The realization of any or all of these risks could have a significant adverse effect on our financial results.

From time to time, we receive notifications alleging infringements of intellectual property rights allegedly held by others relating to our business or the products we sell or integrate for our OEM suppliers and others. Litigation with respect to patents or other intellectual property matters could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and other resources and could have an adverse effect on our business. Although we generally have various levels of indemnification protection from our OEM suppliers and design and integration solutions customers, in many cases any indemnification to which we may be entitled is subject to maximum limits or other restrictions. In addition, we have developed proprietary IT systems, mobile applications, and cloud-based technology and acquired technologies that play an important role in our business. If any infringement claim is successful against us and if indemnification is not available or sufficient, we may be required to pay substantial damages or we may need to seek and obtain a license of the other party's intellectual property rights. We may be unable to obtain such a license on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. We are from time to time involved in other litigation in the ordinary course of business which has and may include claims with respect to antitrust, mergers and acquisitions and other matters. In the ordinary course of business, we also receive inquiries from and have discussions with government entities regarding the compliance of our contracting and sales practices with laws and regulations. We may not be successful in defending these or other claims. Regardless of the outcome, litigation could result in substantial expense and could divert the efforts of our management. Allegations made in the course of regulatory or legal proceedings may also harm our reputation, regardless of whether there is merit to such claims. Furthermore, because litigation and the outcome of regulatory proceedings are inherently unpredictable, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially affected by an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings, claims, demands or investigations. We do not expect that the ultimate resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position. However, the resolution of certain of these matters could be material to our operating results for any particular period. For further information regarding our current litigation matters, refer to Note 17 – Commitments and Contingencies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8.

Our business is heavily dependent upon information technology networks and systems, including those of our vendors, suppliers and partners. Internal or external attacks on those networks and systems could disrupt our normal operations centers and impede our ability to provide critical products and services to our customers, subjecting us to liability under our contracts and damaging our reputation. Additionally, such attacks could compromise our, or our customers' or vendors', intellectual property or confidential information or result in fraud or other financial loss. For example, in July 2021, we announced publicly that a threat actor had gained access to our systems. That incident did not have a material impact to the business. In July 2022 and September 2023, we became aware that a sophisticated threat actor gained access to a portion of our networks and systems. After conducting a thorough review of those attacks with a leading third-party cybersecurity firm, we determined that those attacks did not have a material impact on us. Evidence indicates that the threat actor responsible for these incidents is related to, or the same as, the threat actor that previously gained unauthorized access to our systems in July 2021. In response to these threats, we engaged in remedial and preventative actions to remove the threat actor and prevent further unauthorized access to our network, analyzed the information that the threat actors accessed, enhanced our data security and governance program, added additional protective security layers and are cooperating with law enforcement authorities. While we do not believe at this time that these cyber-attacks had a material impact on our systems or operations, should new or different information come to light establishing that the intrusions are broader than now known or if additional attacks occur, it could have a broader impact on our systems and operations, and we could incur significant costs in responding to such intrusions. Our business also involves the use, storage and transmission of information about our co-workers, and customers. If any person, including any of our co-workers, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to such data or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to monetary damages, fines or criminal prosecution. We have security controls for our systems and other security practices in place to protect the security of, and prevent unauthorized access to, our systems and personal and proprietary information, such as firewalls and anti-virus software, and we also provide information to our co-workers about the need to deploy security measures and the impact of doing so; however, notwithstanding our efforts to date, there are numerous sophisticated threat actors that are actively engaging in cyber-attacks that include our systems and there can be no assurance that such security measures will prevent additional improper access to our networks and systems, or access to or disclosure of, personally identifiable or proprietary information which could harm our business. We could also face legal, reputational and financial risks if we fail to protect customer and internal data from security breaches or cyberattacks. Furthermore, data privacy is subject to frequently changing rules and regulations, which sometimes conflict among the various jurisdictions and countries in which we provide services. The General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act and other similar laws have resulted, and will continue to result, in increased compliance costs. Our failure to adhere to or successfully implement processes in response to these and other changing regulatory requirements in this area could result in legal liability or impairment to our reputation in the marketplace, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We sell to our customers on a purchase order basis, rather than pursuant to long-term contracts or contracts with minimum purchase requirements. Consequently, our sales are subject to demand variability by our customers. The level and timing of orders placed by our customers vary for a variety of reasons, including seasonal buying by end-users, the introduction of new hardware and software technologies and general economic conditions. Customers submitting a purchase order may cancel, reduce or delay their orders. If we are unable to anticipate and respond to the demands of our reseller, retail and design and integration solutions customers, we may lose customers because we have an inadequate supply of products, or we may have excess inventory, either of which could harm our business, financial position and operating results. With regard to our design and integration solutions customers, unique parts are purchased based both on customer purchase orders and forecasted demand. We have limited protection against excess inventory should anticipated demand not materialize.

We extend credit to our customers for a significant portion of our sales to them and they have a period of time, generally 30 days after the date of invoice, to make payment. However, in certain cases, for some of our customers, we offer longer terms of payment. As a result, we are subject to the risk that our customers will not pay on time or at all. Our credit exposure risk may increase due to financial difficulties or liquidity or solvency issues experienced by our customers, resulting in their inability to repay us. The liquidity or solvency issues may increase as a result of an economic downturn, increases in costs including due to inflation or higher interest rates, or a decrease in IT spending by end-users. If we are unable to collect payments in a timely manner from our customers due to changes in financial or economic conditions, or for other reasons, and we are unable to collect under our credit insurance policies, we may write-off the amount due from the customers. These write-offs may result in credit insurance being more expensive and on terms that are less favorable to us and may negatively impact our ability to utilize accounts receivable-based financing. In addition, the failure of customers to pay within a specified time period after the date of an invoice could result in defaults under our accounts receivable securitization program. These circumstances could negatively impact our cash flow and liquidity position, or result in the cross-default to our other indebtedness and acceleration of the repayment of our indebtedness. Further, we are exposed to higher collection risk as we continue to expand internationally, where the payment cycles are generally longer and the credit rating process may not be as robust as in the United States, and where our access to accounts receivable financing is more limited.

We conduct business globally and file income tax returns in various tax jurisdictions. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by several factors, many of which are outside of our control, including: - changes in income before taxes in various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates;- changing tax laws, regulations, and/or interpretations of such tax laws in multiple jurisdictions;- effect of tax rate on accounting for acquisitions and dispositions;- issues arising from tax audit or examinations and any related interest or penalties; and - uncertainty in obtaining tax holiday extensions or expiration or loss of tax holidays in various jurisdictions. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been working on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, which would grant additional taxing rights over profits earned by multinational enterprises to the countries in which their products are sold and services rendered. Rules adopted in response to this project would establish a global per-country minimum tax of 15%, and the European Union has approved a directive requiring members to adopt similar provisions into their respective domestic laws. These rules would become effective for fiscal years starting on or after December 31, 2023 (fiscal year 2025 for the Company). Significant details around the rules are still under formulation and the timing around enactment remains uncertain. Due to these new rules, our income tax expense could be unfavorably impacted as the legislation becomes effective in countries in which we conduct business. We will continue to monitor the pending legislation and implementation that follows by individual countries. Certain countries are evaluating their tax policies and regulations, which could affect international business and may have an adverse effect on our overall tax rate, along with increasing the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance. Additional changes in the U.S. tax regime or in how U.S. multinational corporations are taxed on foreign earnings, including changes in how existing tax laws are interpreted or enforced, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We report our results of operations based on our determination of the amount of taxes owed in various tax jurisdictions in which we operate. The determination of our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities requires estimation, judgment and calculations where the ultimate tax determination may not be certain. Our determination of tax liability is always subject to review or examination by tax authorities in various tax jurisdictions. Any adverse outcome of such review or examination could have a negative impact on our operating results and financial condition. The results from various tax examinations and audits may differ from the liabilities recorded in our financial statements and could adversely affect our financial results and cash flows.

Companies are facing increasing attention from investors, customers, partners, consumers and other stakeholders relating to ESG matters, including environmental stewardship, social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, racial justice and workplace conduct. In addition, organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings may lead to negative investor sentiment toward the Company, which could have a negative impact on our stock price and our access to and costs of capital. We have established corporate social responsibility programs aligned with sound environmental, social and governance principles. These programs reflect our current initiatives and are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them. Our ability to successfully execute these initiatives and accurately report our progress presents numerous operational, financial, legal, reputational and other risks, many of which are outside our control, and all of which could have a material negative impact on our business. Additionally, the implementation of these initiatives imposes additional costs on us. If our ESG initiatives fail to satisfy investors, customers, partners and our other stakeholders, our reputation, our ability to sell products and services to customers, our ability to attract or retain co-workers, and our attractiveness as an investment, business partner or acquirer could be negatively impacted. Similarly, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our goals, targets and objectives or to satisfy various reporting standards within the timelines we announce, or at all, could also have similar negative impacts and expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation.