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All stocks · Consumer Defensive · Food Distributors

Sysco SYY

Sysco scores weak on business quality (4.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$78.14Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityWeak
Next earningsNov 3, 2026
Insiders, 90 daysQuiet

Why it matters

  1. What Sysco does

    Sysco distributes food and related products to restaurants, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions, generating revenue through broadline wholesale supply. The company is leaning into yield-focused dividend distributions while managing cost pressures across its extensive logistical network.

  2. What it does best

    Sysco leverages immense distribution scale to supply restaurants nationwide, posting revenue of $84.5B. This dense routing network undercuts smaller regional competitors like PFGC, making independent replication economically unviable.

  3. The main risk

    Heavy debt loads create structural vulnerability, with total debt at $13.5B eclipsing cash reserves. A downturn in restaurant traffic directly compresses already thin operating margins, leaving little room for operational missteps.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityWeak

Operating margin rests thin at 4.3% and net margin is 2.1%, though return on equity climbs to 75.4% due to high leverage. This business struggles to expand margins significantly as it scales.

MoatFair

Scale creates a logistics moat locking in commercial food service operators through reliable delivery networks. Gross margin sits in the bottom quartile of its sector at 18.5%, limiting aggressive pricing flexibility against rivals.

GrowthSlow

Revenue grew 3.9% to reach $84.5B, maintaining a steady climb from $76.3B in 2023. This expansion rate tracks consistently with historical annual figures but shows a slower pace than peers like PFGC at 7.2%.

Financial healthWeak

Leverage is heavy with a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.1, though interest coverage holds at 5.0x. Free cash flow reached $1.9B, but overall financial footing remains constrained by substantial debt obligations getting softer.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

Our sealed record on SYY

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is SYY a good business?

Sysco scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (4.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health weak.

Are insiders buying SYY?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

When does SYY report earnings?

Nov 3, 2026.

For members

See SYY today

  • Today's verdict on SYY, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Sysco (SYY)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/syy/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.