Risk Factors Summary
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The following is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky, all of which are more fully described below in the section titled “Risk Factors.” This summary should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and should not be relied upon as an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing our business. In addition to the following summary, you should consider the information set forth in the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K before investing in our securities.
Risks Related to Our Business
A decline in consumer spending or a change in consumer preferences or demographics could reduce our sales or profitability and adversely affect our business.
The growth of our business depends in part on our ability to accurately predict consumer trends, successfully introduce new products and services, improve existing products and services, and expand into new offerings.
Competition in the markets in which we operate, including internet-based competition, is strong and if we are unable to compete effectively, our ability to generate sales may suffer and our operating income and net income could decline.
We may be unable to execute our growth strategies successfully or manage and sustain our growth and, as a result, our business may be adversely affected.
We have, at times, experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining skilled veterinarians due to shortages that could disrupt our business.
We face various risks as an e-commerce retailer.
If we fail to generate or obtain sufficient capital to finance our growth strategies, we may be unable to sustain our growth and our business may be adversely affected.
A disruption, malfunction, or increased costs in the operation, expansion, or replenishment of our distribution centers or our supply chain would affect our ability to deliver to our locations and e-commerce customers or increase our expenses, which could harm our sales and profitability.
We occasionally seek to grow our business through acquisitions of or investments in new or complementary businesses, products, or services, or through strategic ventures, and the failure to successfully identify these opportunities, manage and integrate these acquisitions, investments, or alliances, or to achieve an adequate return on these investments, could have an adverse effect on us.
Negative publicity arising from claims that we do not properly care for animals we handle or sell could adversely affect how we are perceived by the public and reduce our sales and profitability.
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate due to the timing of expenses, new pet care center openings, pet care center closures, and other factors.
Pet consumables safety, quality, and health concerns could adversely affect our business.
Failure to attract and retain quality employees and experienced management personnel could adversely affect our performance.
Our results may be adversely affected by serious disruptions or catastrophic events, including public health issues, geopolitical events, and severe weather.
Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters
Failure to comply with governmental regulations or the expansion of existing or the enactment of new laws or regulations applicable to our veterinary services could adversely affect our business and our financial condition or lead to fines, litigation, or our inability to offer veterinary products or services in certain states.
Our marketing programs, e-commerce initiatives, and use of personal information are governed by an evolving set of laws and enforcement trends, and changes in privacy laws or trends, or our failure to comply with existing or future laws, could substantially harm our business and results of operations.
Failure to establish, maintain, protect, and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights or prevent third parties from making unauthorized use of our technology or our brand could harm our competitive position or require us to incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.
We are party to routine litigation arising in the ordinary course of business and may become involved in additional litigation, all of which requires time and attention from certain members of management and can result in significant legal expenses.
We are subject to environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations that could result in costs to us.
We may fail to comply with various state or federal regulations covering the dispensing and/or administration of prescription pet medications, including controlled substances, through our veterinary services businesses, which may subject us to reprimands, sanctions, probations, fines, or suspensions.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our cash flows and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under existing debt agreements.
The agreements governing our indebtedness include restrictive covenants that limit our operating flexibility, which could harm our long-term interests.
Our failure to comply with the covenants contained in the Indenture, Term Loan Credit Agreement and ABL Credit Agreement, including as a result of events beyond our control, could result in an event of default that could cause repayment of our debt to be accelerated.
The amount of borrowings permitted under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility may fluctuate significantly, which may adversely affect our liquidity, results of operations, and financial position.
We will need to repay or refinance borrowings under the First Lien Term Loan and ABL Revolving Credit Facility prior to maturity of the Senior Secured Notes.
Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock
Our Sponsors have significant influence over us, including control over decisions that require the approval of stockholders, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of matters submitted to stockholders for a vote.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. Accordingly, the holders of our Class A common stock do not have the same protections as those afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such governance requirements.
We are a holding company with nominal net worth and will depend on dividends and distributions from our subsidiaries to pay any dividends.
A ratings downgrade or other negative action by a ratings organization could adversely affect the trading price of the shares of our Class A common stock.
General Risk Factors
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the market, which could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
If our operating and financial performance in any given period does not meet the guidance that we have provided to the public or the expectations of our investors and analysts, our Class A common stock price may decline.
PART I
Item 1. B usiness .
Our Company
Founded in 1965, Petco is a leading pet specialty retailer focused on improving the lives of pets, pet parents, and our own Petco partners. Building on more than 60 years of service to pets and the people who love and care for them, we serve our customers as a fully-integrated, omnichannel provider of pet products, services, and solutions. Our ecosystem provides our customers with a comprehensive offering of products and services to fulfill all their pets’ needs through our approximately 1,400 pet care centers across the United States and Puerto Rico, our digital channel, and our flexible fulfillment options. Additionally, we operate approximately 150 pet care centers in Mexico and 2 in Chile through a joint venture.
Our product offering leverages a broad assortment of national brands, owned brands, and exclusive merchandise, providing customers with a wide variety of nutritional options at a range of price points. Our product offering is complemented by a wide variety of pet care supplies and companion animals. In addition, our owned product assortment, including WholeHearted, Reddy, So Phresh, and Well & Good, serves as a significant driver of sales, customer loyalty, and repeat purchasing and was a meaningful contributor to enterprise sales in fiscal 2025.
We integrate our product offering with our services business, comprised of veterinary care, grooming, and training, with a focus on treating the whole pet, including their physical, mental, and social well-being. As of January 31, 2026, we had approximately 300 full service veterinary hospitals in our network and operated approximately 1,600 Vetco clinics on a weekly basis. We are able to benefit from certain structural advantages compared to stand-alone veterinary care providers by integrating our hospitals into existing pet care centers. This provides additional basket opportunities and allows for, among other things, data sharing advantages across our ecosystem.
Our strategy is powered by a multi-channel platform. Our more than 26,000 passionate and knowledgeable store employees, together with our full suite of wholly owned services, enable us to create a fun, convenient, and unique experience for our customers and their pets.
Layered onto our in-store and services offerings, we are focused on continually improving both our digital capabilities as well as our membership offering and creating a digital-to-store experience designed to minimize friction for our customers. Petco.com, our e-Commerce site, and the Petco app, our personalized mobile app, together serve as hubs for pet parents to book appointments and manage all of their pets’ needs, while enabling them to shop wherever, whenever, and however they want. With many of our customers shopping both in-store and online, we are well positioned to serve pet parents wherever they are through our interconnected ecosystem, where we offer the convenience of repeat delivery, buy online and pickup in store, curbside pick-up, same day delivery, and ship from store, thus continuing to strengthen our position as the place “Where the Pets Go.”
Industry Dynamics
The U.S. pet care industry is large, serving millions of households with pets, and has exhibited steady growth driven by an increase in the pet population and ongoing trends in pet humanization and premiumization. Due to the essential, repeat nature of pet products and services, the industry has demonstrated resilience across various economic cycles. However, in recent years we have observed increased competition and softening discretionary spending with us, creating a challenging operating environment.
In fiscal 2025, with new leadership in place, we embarked on a purposeful strategy to strengthen our fundamentals with a specific focus on driving improved profitability and cash flow. This strategy is anchored on four key pillars: providing a trusted store experience for our customers; offering new, trend-driven products that complement our evergreen assortment; scaling our unique and competitively differentiated services offering; and powering it all with an integrated omni-channel experience driven by a revamped membership offering, repeat delivery, and seamless digital-to-store engagement.
Our execution in fiscal 2025 brought our four strategic pillars to life. We drove differentiated growth in our merchandise offering by expanding our portfolio of owned brands and exclusive products, helping to position Petco as the go-to destination for premium and innovative pet nutrition and supplies. We continued to scale our vet services, opening new, state-of-the-art veterinary hospitals in our pet care centers and expanding our Vetco clinics, making essential veterinary care more accessible and affordable, while also enhancing our grooming offerings,
creating indispensable, recurring relationships with pet parents. Finally, we powered these initiatives with our differentiated digital engine, making significant progress in improving our mobile app and e-commerce platforms in an effort to deliver a seamless, integrated omnichannel experience.
This disciplined execution of our strategy resulted in an improved financial profile in fiscal 2025, as demonstrated by our strong year-over-year growth in net income and Adjusted EBITDA, as well as significant operating income and free cash flow generation year-over-year. We believe the significant progress that we made in fiscal 2025 demonstrates our ability to execute on our priorities, creating a strong foundation for future success. As we look ahead to fiscal 2026, our focus is to build on this momentum in returning Petco to sustainable, profitable growth. We plan to continue to execute against our four pillars, with a commitment to operational excellence and providing the comprehensive care that pet parents expect from us. By leveraging our unique, integrated model of merchandise, services, and veterinary care, we are confident in our ability to capture the significant opportunities that lie ahead and deliver sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders.
Marketing and Advertising
In fiscal 2025, we continued to evolve our marketing and media strategy, with a heightened focus on efficiency, return on investments, and disciplined promotional activity. We grew our in-house retail media network to enable advertising activities across paid and owned channels, and enhanced our search engine optimization capabilities through the launch of our in-house content hub. We also refined our pricing and promotional strategies and optimized overall marketing spend and channel mix to prioritize high-margin customer engagement, by leveraging data-driven insights. Our marketing efforts capitalize our integrated ecosystem and competitive positioning to drive customer acquisition, monetization, and retention while strengthening brand resonance and customer experience through targeted campaigns and in-store engagement initiatives.
In fiscal 2026, we plan to further integrate and share data between our services business and the rest of our stores to enable improved customer recommendations and marketing effectiveness. This includes continued investment in data-driven personalization, loyalty analytics, and marketing-mix insights that are designed to improve campaign effectiveness and long-term customer value. We expect these capabilities to support our sustainable, profitability-focused growth.
Human Capital
Our Partners
Our employees, who we call Petco partners, are our most significant asset, critical to the delivery of our transformation and our continued progress. As of January 31, 2026, we had over 29,000 total partners. Our over 26,000 pet care center partners offer a level of customer engagement and content that is differentiated in retail and grounded in a true passion for pets. Our partners are primarily employed on an at-will basis and are compensated through base salary and incentive programs. We strive for our partners to grow and develop in their careers, and offer competitive compensation and benefits programs, incentive compensation, and a range of health and wellness offerings. Though we have encountered a small number of union campaigns, none have been successful to date and, accordingly, none of our partners are represented by labor unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relationship with our partners to be good.
Culture
We strive to create an environment that values diverse backgrounds and identities. We believe that an inclusive workplace can unlock diversity of perspectives which in turn can enable critical innovation, creative problem solving and high engagement that is key to our mission of improving the lives of pets, pet parents, and our Petco partners. Embedded in our values is the fundamental belief that we are all accepted as we are, and this sentiment is reinforced in teams across our company.
To better serve our diverse customers across our more than 1,500 pet care centers across the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, we are intentional about bringing the skillsets and experiences that help us meet the needs of all pets and pet parents. From attracting bilingual talent that help us serve multicultural market segments to finding experiences that help us innovate in a competitive and changing industry, we continue to evaluate and enhance our recruiting and development strategies to find and build the best talent possible. As the need for pet care
grows, we also collaborate with community and industry associations to inspire the next generation of doctors and expand the field of veterinarian medicine.
Partner Communities
We believe that building and supporting connections between our partners creates a more fulfilling and enjoyable workplace experience and enables us to tap into the diverse expertise of our partners. Petco’s seven Partner Resource Groups are partner-led and organized, and lead this effort by fostering community and a sense of belonging by facilitating engagement activities to increase cross-cultural awareness, educate partners on issues involving a variety of topics, and help our business better reach our diverse customer base.
Compensation and Benefits
We provide competitive compensation and benefits programs to help meet the needs of our partners and their families. In addition to base cash compensation, we offer our partners a mix of annual bonuses, equity awards, various incentive plans, an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, a 401(k) Plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, and family leave. In addition, we offer a range of webinars, trainings, and subscriptions to support our partners’ total wellbeing.
Talent Development
We invest significant resources to attract, develop, and retain top talent. In recent years, we have introduced foundational leadership development training for all new General Managers and above, provided comprehensive pet health and wellness certifications in all pet care centers, and continuously develop our partners’ customer engagement skills. In fiscal 2025, we proudly provided over 300,000 hours of training to our pet care center partners. In addition, over 40% of open Store General Manager and District Manager positions were filled by internal candidates, either through lateral moves or promotions.
Distribution
We currently have seven primary and two regional distribution centers in our network, which are located in various parts of the United States, that handle almost all distribution for our company. In addition, our ship-from-store, same day delivery, BOPUS, and curbside programs enhance our distribution networks.
The majority of relationships we have with third-party domestic transportation and logistics providers are governed by non-exclusive agreements that do not obligate us to minimum volume or fees, and such agreements may generally be terminated by either party on 45 to 60 days’ prior written notice. However, the Company has agreements with three significant domestic transportation and logistics providers that have certain minimum volume requirements and/or cannot be terminated early without penalty.
Vendor Arrangements
As of the end of fiscal 2025, we had approximately 680 active merchandise vendors. Our top 10 vendors represented approximately 40% of our annual sales, and no single vendor accounted for more than 10% of our sales. In addition, we primarily sell the products we carry directly to consumers and purchase our products predominantly from our direct vendors rather than through third-party distributors. As such, we do not materially rely on third-party distributors to conduct our overall business. Our policy is to onboard our vendors using a standardized process to confirm their adherence to our applicable standards, policies, and procedures, including those relating to legal compliance, standard payment terms, and product quality. These relationships are typically governed by our standard vendor terms and conditions, under which we submit purchase orders to our vendors specifying the types, quantities, and agreed prices for merchandise that we intend to purchase from them. These agreements do not typically have minimum order requirements or exclusivity obligations for either party. Our terms and conditions do not have a set term, but instead allow us to terminate the relationship for convenience at any time upon written notice to the vendor. Our vendors generally may terminate the relationship on 90-days’ written notice but are obligated to fulfill or perform any purchase order accepted prior to such notice.
Our Trademarks and Other Intellectual Property
We believe that our rights in our intellectual property, including trademarks and domain names, as well as contractual provisions and restrictions on access to our proprietary technology, are important to our operations and marketing efforts to develop brand recognition and differentiate our brand from our competitors. We own a number of trademarks that have been registered, or for which registration applications are pending, in the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions. These trademarks include Bond & Co., EveryYay, Good 2 Go, Good Lovin’, Imagitarium, Leaps & Bounds, Petco, Petco Love, Petco Park, Reddy, Ruff & Mews, So Phresh, Vetco, Well & Good, Where the Pets Go, WholeHearted, You & Me, Youly, Vital Care Core, and Vital Care Premier. The current registrations of these trademarks are effective for varying periods of time and may be renewed periodically, provided that we, as the registered owner, or our licensees where applicable, comply with all applicable renewal requirements including, where necessary, the continued use of the trademarks in connection with similar goods. We expect to pursue additional trademark registrations to the extent we believe they would be beneficial and cost-effective.
In addition to trademark protection, we own numerous domain names, including petco.com. We also enter into, and rely on, confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors, and business partners to protect our trade secrets, proprietary technology, and other confidential information. We further control the use of our proprietary technology and intellectual property through provisions in both our customer terms of use on our website and in our vendor terms and conditions.
Government Regulation
We are subject to a broad range of federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations intended to protect public health, animal welfare, natural resources, and the environment. Our operations, including our owned brand manufacturing outsourcing partners, are subject to regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”), the Drug Enforcement Administration (the “DEA”), and by various other federal, state, local, and foreign authorities regarding the sale, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, labeling, and import of our products, including food safety standards. For more information, please read “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters—Our operations are subject to extensive governmental regulation, and we may incur material liabilities under, or costs in order to comply with, existing or future laws and regulations. Our failure to comply with such laws and regulations may result in enforcements, recalls, and other adverse actions that could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our financial results.”
The FDA regulates animal feed, including pet food, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, (the “FFDCA”), and its implementing regulations. Although pet foods are not required to obtain premarket approval from the FDA, the FFDCA requires that all animal foods are safe for consumption, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and are truthfully labeled. Most states also require that pet foods distributed in the state be registered or licensed with the appropriate state regulatory agency. In addition, most facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods, including pet foods, must register with the FDA and renew their registration every two years, and are subject to periodic FDA inspection. This includes most foreign, as well as domestic facilities. Registration must occur before the facility begins its pet food manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding operations.
The labeling of pet foods is regulated by both the FDA and certain state regulatory authorities. FDA regulations require proper identification of the product, a net quantity statement, a statement of the name and place of business of the manufacturer or distributor, and proper listing of all the ingredients in order of predominance by weight. Most states also enforce their own labeling regulations, many of which are based on model definitions and guidelines developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (the “AAFCO”). AAFCO is a voluntary, non-governmental membership association of local, state, and federal agencies that are charged with regulation of the sale and distribution of animal feed, including pet foods. The degree of oversight of the implementation of these regulations varies by state, but typically includes a state review and approval of each product label as a condition of sale in that state.
The FDA also regulates the inclusion of specific claims in pet food labeling. For example, pet food products that are labeled or marketed with claims that may suggest that they are intended to treat or prevent disease in pets would potentially meet the statutory definitions of both a food and a drug. The FDA has issued guidance regarding products that provide nutrients in support of an animal’s daily nutrient needs but which are also labeled as being
intended for use to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease, thereby meeting the statutory definitions of both a food and a drug.
Under Section 423 of the FFDCA, the FDA may require the recall of an animal feed product if there is a reasonable probability that the product is adulterated or misbranded and the use of or exposure to the product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. In addition, pet food manufacturers may voluntarily recall or withdraw their products from the market.
Certain states have laws, rules, and regulations that require that veterinary medical practices be either wholly owned or majority owned by licensed veterinarians and that corporations that are not wholly owned or majority owned by licensed veterinarians refrain from providing, or holding themselves out as providers of, veterinary medical care, or directly employing or otherwise exercising control over veterinarians providing such care. In these states and jurisdictions, we provide management and other administrative services to veterinary practices rather than owning such practices or directly employing the veterinarians providing medical care. Although we believe that we have structured our operations to comply with our understanding of the veterinary medicine laws of each state and jurisdiction in which we operate, interpretive legal precedent and regulatory guidance varies by jurisdiction and is often sparse and not fully developed.
In addition, all of the states in which we operate veterinary facilities impose various registration permit and/or licensing requirements. To fulfill these requirements, we have registered each of our facilities with appropriate governmental agencies and, where required, have appointed a licensed veterinarian to act on behalf of each facility. All veterinarians practicing in our animal wellness centers are required to maintain valid state licenses to practice and veterinarians practicing in our full-service hospitals are required to maintain valid licenses with the DEA. We are also required to comply with state laws governing the dispensing of prescription pet medications by our veterinarians. Additionally, our pet insurance plans must be registered with certain state departments of insurance and comply with their requirements.
Petco Love
Petco Love is a nonprofit organization changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. It is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported by contributions from us, Petco customers, corporate partners, and individual donors. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has inspired and empowered animal welfare organizations to make a difference, investing more than $430 million in adoption and medical care programs, reuniting lost pets, spay/neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through the Think Adoption First program, Petco Love partners with our pet care centers and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions, helping more than 7 million pets to date find their new loving families.
In April 2021, Petco Love launched Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found pet database that uses image recognition technology to help reunite lost pets with their families should they ever go missing. To date, more than 3,300 animal welfare organizations and pet industry partners across the U.S. utilize the platform, and Petco Love Lost has helped return over 200,000 pets to their loving homes.
Launched in August 2021, Petco Love’s Vaccinated and Loved initiative provides free pet vaccines to its partners. To date, more than 4 million vaccines have been distributed. Providing these much-needed vaccinations in under-resourced communities is something Petco Love believes gives more pets the best chance to live long and healthy lives.
Available Information
Our commercial website is petco.com , and our investor relations website is ir.petco.com . We promptly make available on our investor relations website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Principles of Corporate Governance) and select press releases. We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy and information statements, and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The SEC maintains a website at sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding Petco and other issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
Item 1A. Ris k Factors.
Investing in our securities involves uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors. You should carefully consider the risks described below with all of the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Statements in this section are based on the Company’s beliefs and opinions regarding matters that could materially adversely affect the Company in the future. References to past events are provided by way of example only and are not intended to be a complete listing or a representation as to whether or not such factors have occurred in the past. Further, the risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face and should not be considered a complete statement of all potential risks or uncertainties that the Company faces or may face in the future. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also materially affect our business. If any of the following risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. For a summary of these risks, please read “Risk Factors Summary,” which immediately precedes Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Business
A decline in consumer spending or a change in consumer preferences or demographics could reduce our sales or profitability and adversely affect our business.
Our sales depend on consumer spending, which is influenced by numerous factors beyond our control, including general economic conditions, disruption or volatility in global financial markets, changes in interest rates, inflation, the availability of discretionary income and credit, weather, consumer confidence, and unemployment levels. We have experienced, and could continue to experience, declines in sales of certain products and services and changes in the types of products and services purchased during economic downturns. Our business could be harmed by any material decline in the amount of consumer spending, which could reduce our sales, or a decrease in the sales of higher-margin products and services, which could reduce our profitability and adversely affect our business. For instance, an increase in price sensitivity in discretionary consumer spending due in part to persistent inflation has negatively impacted sales of discretionary items, which has had, and could continue to have, an adverse effect on our profitability.
We have also benefited from increasing pet ownership, discretionary spending on pets, and trends in humanization and premiumization in the pet industry, as well as favorable pet ownership demographics. To the extent these trends continue to slow or reverse, our sales and profitability would continue to be adversely affected. Specifically, spending on non-discretionary items has declined due in part to persistent inflation, which has adversely impacted our profitability. Further, in response to shifting consumer demand, beginning in fiscal 2023 we broadened our assortment to include more national brand products, which are typically lower priced and less profitable, in addition to taking strategic pricing actions throughout our broader assortment of merchandise. Though sales of such products have been significant, if we do not increase the average basket size of customers purchasing such products, or we are unsuccessful in transitioning such customers into higher margin products over time, then our profitability could be adversely affected. The success of our business depends in part on our ability to identify and respond to evolving trends in demographics and consumer preferences. Failure to timely identify or effectively respond to changing consumer tastes, preferences, spending patterns, and pet care needs could adversely affect our relationship with our customers, the demand for our products and services, our market share, and our profitability.
The growth of our business depends in part on our ability to accurately predict consumer trends, successfully introduce new products and services, improve existing products and services, and expand into new offerings.
Our growth depends, in part, on our ability to successfully introduce, improve, and reposition our products and services to meet the requirements of pet parents. This, in turn, depends on our ability to predict and respond to evolving consumer trends, demands, and preferences. For instance, in fiscal 2025, we grew our merchandise offering by expanding our portfolio of owned brands and exclusive products in an effort to position Petco as the go-to destination for premium and innovative pet nutrition and supplies.
Our ability to innovate is affected by the technical capability of our product development staff and third-party consultants in developing and testing new products, including complying with governmental regulations, our attractiveness as a partner for outside research and development scientists and entrepreneurs, the success of our management and sales team in introducing and marketing new products and service offerings, and our ability to leverage our digital and data capabilities to gather and respond to consumer feedback. Additionally, the development and introduction of innovative new products and services and expansion into new offerings involves considerable
costs. Any new product, service, or offering may not generate sufficient customer interest and sales to become profitable or to cover the costs of its development and promotion and, as a result, may adversely impact our results of operations, including our profitability.
We may be unable to determine with accuracy when or whether any of our products or services now under development will be launched, and we may be unable to develop or otherwise acquire product candidates or products. Additionally, we cannot predict whether any such products or services, once launched, will be commercially successful. If we are unable to successfully develop or otherwise acquire new products or services, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Our continued success is substantially dependent on positive perceptions of Petco, including our owned or exclusive brands.
We believe that one of the reasons our customers prefer to shop at Petco, and that our partners choose Petco as a place of employment, is the reputation we have built over many years of serving our primary constituencies: customers; partners; and the communities in which we operate. These are core elements of the Petco mission and brand. To be successful in the future, we must continue to preserve, grow, and leverage the value of our reputation and our brand. Reputational value is based in large part on perceptions of subjective qualities, and even isolated incidents (even if based on rumor or misunderstanding) that erode trust and confidence, particularly if they result in adverse publicity or widespread reaction on social media, governmental investigations, or litigation, can have an adverse impact on these perceptions and lead to adverse effects on our business, including decreased comparable sales, consumer boycotts, loss of new pet care center development opportunities, lower partner morale and productivity, or partner recruiting and retention difficulties.
In addition, we sell many products under our owned or private label brands. Maintaining consistent product quality, competitive pricing, and availability of our branded products for our customers is essential to developing and maintaining customer loyalty and brand awareness. These products often have higher margins than national brand products. If one or more of these brands experience a loss of consumer acceptance or confidence, our sales and gross margin could be adversely affected.
Competition in the markets in which we operate, including internet-based competition, is strong and if we are unable to compete effectively, our ability to generate sales may suffer and our operating income and net income could decline.
The pet care industry is highly competitive. We compete with a number of specialty pet store chains and independent pet stores. We also compete with online retailers, supermarkets, warehouse clubs, and mass merchants. The pet care industry has become increasingly competitive due to the expansion of pet-related product and service offerings by certain supermarkets, warehouse clubs, other retail merchandisers, and online retailers, and the entrance of additional independent pet stores with unique product and service offerings and other pet specialty retailers into the pet food and pet supply market, some of which have developed store formats similar to ours. Some competitors are larger and have access to greater capital and the ability to invest more resources than we do.
We have been facing greater competition from national, regional, local, and online retailers. In particular, major competitors have sought to gain or retain market share by reducing prices or by introducing additional products or services, and this has required us to reduce prices on certain products or services and introduce new offerings in order to remain competitive, which could negatively affect our profitability and/or require a change in our operating strategies.
Sustained change in consumer preferences could decrease the attractiveness of what we believe to be our competitive advantages, including our extensive product assortment, premium product offerings, omnichannel capabilities, owned service offerings, and a unique customer experience, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Further, if we fail to otherwise positively differentiate our customer experience from that of our competitors, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may be unable to execute our growth strategies successfully or manage and sustain our growth and, as a result, our business may be adversely affected.
Our strategies include, among other things, developing compelling products that are new and trend-driven, offering our customers an engaging store experience that is supported by passionate and trusted in-store employees, expanding our veterinary, training, and grooming service offerings, building out our digital and data capabilities in an effort to provide a seamless omnichannel experience, growing our market share in consumables like fresh/frozen and in services like veterinary care, grooming, and training, enhancing our owned brand portfolio, streamlining floor-level processes and store manager responsibilities in our pet care centers, and introducing new offerings to better connect with our customers. However, we may not be able to execute on these strategies as effectively as anticipated. Our ability to execute on these strategies depends on a number of factors, including:
whether we have adequate capital resources to expand our offerings and build out our digital and data capabilities;
our ability to include veterinary services in our existing pet care centers or in our remodeled or relocated pet care centers;
our ability to relocate our pet care centers and obtain favorable sites and negotiate acceptable lease terms;
our ability to hire, train, and retain skilled personnel, including veterinarians, information technology professionals, owned brand merchants, groomers, and trainers;
our acceptance in new markets, as well as our ability to withstand competition in such markets; and
our ability to continue to upgrade our information and other operating systems and to make use of the data that we collect through these systems to offer better products and services to our customers.
Our existing locations may not maintain their current levels of sales and profitability, and our growth strategies may not generate sales levels necessary to achieve pet care center level profitability comparable to that of our existing locations. To the extent that we are unable to execute on our growth strategies in accordance with our expectations, our sales growth would come primarily from the organic growth of existing product and service offerings.
We have, at times, experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining skilled veterinarians due to shortages that could disrupt our business.
The successful growth of our veterinary services business depends significantly on our ability to recruit and retain skilled veterinarians and other veterinary technical staff. We face competition from other veterinary service providers in the labor market for veterinarians and veterinary technical staff, from time to time, we have experienced shortages of skilled veterinarians in markets in which we operate, or desire to operate, our veterinary service businesses, which has required us or our affiliated veterinary practices to increase wages and enhance benefits to recruit and retain enough qualified veterinarians and veterinary technical staff to adequately staff our veterinary services operations. If we are unable to recruit and retain qualified veterinarians and veterinary technical staff, or to control our labor costs, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We face various risks as an e-commerce retailer.
As part of our growth strategy, we seek to further integrate our in-store and online operations and have made, and expect to continue to make, significant investments to integrate and grow our e-commerce business. We may require additional capital in the future to sustain or grow our e-commerce business. Business risks related to our e-commerce business include our inability to keep pace with rapid technological change, failure in our security procedures or operational controls, failure or inadequacy in our systems or labor resource levels to effectively process customer orders in a timely manner, government regulation and legal uncertainties with respect to e-commerce, and collection of sales or other taxes by one or more states or foreign jurisdictions. If any of these risks materialize, they could have an adverse effect on our business.
Additionally, customer expectations about the methods by which they purchase and receive products or services are also becoming more demanding. Customers routinely use technology and a variety of electronic devices and digital platforms to rapidly compare products and prices, read product reviews, determine real-time product availability, and purchase products. Once products are purchased, customers are seeking alternate options for delivery of those products, and they often expect quick, timely, and low-price or free delivery and/or convenient pickup options. In addition, if there are changes in the usage and functioning of search engines or decreases in consumer use of search engines, for example, as a result of the continued development of AI technology, this could negatively impact our websites. We must continually anticipate and adapt to these changes in the purchasing process.
In some circumstances, increased transactions through our website may result in reduced customer traffic in our pet care centers, particularly as customers take advantage of buy online and pick up in store, curbside pickup, and home delivery services available for online orders when making certain types of purchases, such as for bulk orders, repeat deliveries, or heavy pet products. There is a risk that any such reduced customer traffic may reduce the sales of certain products and services in our pet care centers. The cost of shipping online orders, incuding the availability of promotional shipping of online and “extended aisle” orders increases our costs and could adversely affect our profitability.
In addition, as other internet retailers have increased market share in recent years, we have faced increased competition, and may continue to face increased competition in the future, from internet retailers who enter the market. Our failure to positively differentiate our product and services offerings or customer experience from these internet retailers, including offering competitive pricing for our products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we fail to generate or obtain sufficient capital to finance our growth strategies, we may be unable to sustain our growth and our business may be adversely affected.
Our growth rate depends, to a large degree, on the availability of adequate capital to fund the expansion of our offerings, including veterinary services, digital capabilities, and enhancing our store experience, which in turn will depend in large part on cash flow generated by our business and the availability of equity and debt capital. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain sufficient cash flow or obtain sufficient equity or debt capital on acceptable terms, or at all, to support our expansion plans.
Moreover, the First Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of March 4, 2021, as amended by the First Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of December 12, 2022, as further amended by the Second Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of February 2, 2026 (as amended from time to time, the “Term Loan Credit Agreement”), among the Company, the lenders from time to time party thereto, and the Administrative Agent, governing the First Lien Term Loan, the ABL Credit Agreement, dated as of March 4, 2021, as amended by the First Amendment to ABL Credit Agreement, dated as of December 12, 2022, as further amended by the Second Amendment to ABL Credit Agreement, dated as of March 29, 2024 (as amended from time to time, the “ABL Credit Agreement”), among the Company, the lenders from time to time party thereto, and the Administrative Agent, governing the ABL Revolving Credit Facility, and the Indenture, dated as of February 2, 2026 (the “Indenture”), among the Company, the guarantors from time to time party thereto, and the trustee and collateral agent party thereto, governing our Senior Secured Notes, contain provisions that restrict the amount of debt we may incur in the future, and certain other covenants that may restrict or impair our growth plans. If we are not successful in generating or obtaining sufficient capital, we may be unable to invest in our growth, which may adversely affect our results of operations.
We depend on key personnel, and if we lose the services of any of our executive officers, we may not be able to run our business effectively.
We are dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, including our executive officers, and from time to time, there have been, and in the future may be, changes to our management team resulting from the hiring, departure or realignment of executive functions. The departure of any of our key personnel could affect our ability to run our business effectively or without disruption. Our success will, in part, depend on our ability to retain our current management and to develop, attract, and retain qualified personnel in the future. Competition for senior management personnel is intense with increasingly aggressive compensation packages, and we cannot assure you that we can retain our key personnel or that our succession planning will prove effective. Furthermore, significant declines in our stock price have reduced the retention value of our outstanding share-based awards, which could
impact the competitiveness of our compensation over time. The loss of a member of senior management requires the remaining executive officers and our board of directors to divert immediate and substantial attention to seeking a replacement. The inability to fill vacancies in our key personnel positions, including executive positions, on a timely basis could adversely affect our ability to implement our business strategy and be disruptive to our business, which would negatively impact our results of operations.
The loss of any of our key merchandise vendors, or of any of our exclusive distribution arrangements with certain of our vendors, could negatively impact our business.
We purchase significant amounts of products from a number of vendors with limited supply capabilities. There can be no assurance that our current pet food or supply vendors will be able to accommodate growth and expansion of our business. An inability of our existing vendors to provide products or other product supply disruptions that may occur in the future could impair our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We generally do not maintain long-term supply contracts with our merchandise vendors. Thus, most vendors could discontinue selling to us at any time. Although we do not materially rely on any particular vendor, the loss of any of our significant vendors of pet food, particularly owned brand pet food, or pet supplies that we offer could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For more information regarding our vendors, please read “Business—Vendor Arrangements.”
We continually seek to expand our base of pet food and supply vendors and to identify new pet products. If we are unable to identify or enter into distribution relationships with new vendors or to replace the loss of any of our existing vendors, we may experience a competitive disadvantage, our business may be disrupted, and our results of operations may be adversely affected.
Many of the premium pet food brands that we purchase are not widely carried in supermarkets, warehouse clubs, or mass merchants. If any premium pet food manufacturers were to make premium pet food products widely available in supermarkets or through mass merchants, or if the premium brands currently available to supermarkets and mass merchants were to increase their market share at the expense of the premium brands sold only through specialty pet food and supplies retailers, our ability to attract and retain customers or our competitive position may suffer. Further, if supermarkets, warehouse clubs, or mass merchants begin offering any of these premium pet food brands at lower prices, our sales and gross margin could be adversely affected.
Some of the pet food brands and product lines we currently purchase and offer for sale to our customers are not offered by our closest pet specialty competitor. However, in most cases, we have not entered into formal exclusivity agreements with the vendors for such brands. In certain circumstances, in the event these vendors choose to enter into distribution arrangements with other specialty pet retailers or other competitors our sales could suffer and our business could be adversely affected.
Our principal vendors currently provide us with certain incentives such as volume purchasing, trade discounts, cooperative advertising, and market development funds. A reduction or discontinuance of these incentives would increase our costs and could reduce our profitability.
We face various risks related to health epidemics, pandemics, and similar outbreaks, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our business and financial results have been, and could be in the future, adversely affected by health epidemics, pandemics, and similar outbreaks. Despite our efforts to manage these matters, their ultimate effects also depend on factors beyond our knowledge or control, including the duration, severity, and recurrence of any outbreak and actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate its public health effects. Health epidemics, pandemics, and similar outbreaks may adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, including by resulting in (i) significant volatility in demand for our products and services, (ii) changes in consumer behavior and preferences, (iii) disruptions of our manufacturing and supply chain operations, (iv) disruption of our cost saving programs and restructuring initiatives, (v) limitations on our employees’ ability to work and travel, and (vi) changes to economic or political conditions in markets in which we operate.
A disruption, malfunction, or increased costs in the operation, expansion, or replenishment of our distribution centers or our supply chain would affect our ability to deliver to our locations and e-commerce customers or increase our expenses, which could harm our sales and profitability.
Our vendors generally ship merchandise to one or more of our distribution centers, which receive and allocate merchandise to our locations and e-commerce customers. The success of our pet care centers depends on their timely receipt of merchandise. If any shipped merchandise were to be delayed because of the impact of severe weather, tariffs, or other disruptions on transnational shipping, particularly from our vendors in Asia, our operations would likely be significantly disrupted. Disruption to shipping and transportation channels due to slowdowns or work stoppages at ports on the West Coast of the United States have occurred in the past, and to the extent they occur in the future, could cause us to rely more heavily on airfreight to achieve timely delivery to our customers, resulting in significantly higher freight costs. Further, increased transportation costs, including tariffs and sustained increases in fuel costs, have resulted in higher operating costs in the past. We may not be able to pass all or any portion of these higher costs on to our customers or adjust our pricing structure in a timely manner in order to remain competitive, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
In the past we have faced labor shortages at several of our distribution centers, which has adversely affected our results of operations. If any of our distribution centers were to shut down, suffer substantial labor shortages, or lose significant capacity for any reason, our operations would likely be significantly disrupted. We compete with other retailers for the supply of personnel to staff our distribution centers, some of whom are larger than us and have access to greater capital resources than we do. If we are unable to successfully recruit and retain personnel to staff our distribution centers, we may face labor shortages or be forced to increase wages and enhance benefits for such personnel, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, any interruption or malfunction in our distribution operations, including, but not limited to, the loss of a key vendor that provides transportation of merchandise to or from our distribution centers, labor shortages, or regulatory issues with respect to any of our distribution centers, could adversely affect our sales and results of operations. Previous interruptions in our inventory supply chain have resulted in certain out-of-stock or excess merchandise inventory levels, and could adversely affect our ability to make timely deliveries to e-commerce customers, as well as our sales and results of operations.
We occasionally seek to grow our business through acquisitions of, or investments in, new or complementary businesses, products, or services, or through strategic ventures, and the failure to successfully identify these opportunities, manage and integrate these acquisitions, investments, or alliances, or to achieve an adequate return on these investments, could have an adverse effect on us.
The pet care industry is highly fragmented. We have completed acquisitions in the past and may pursue expansion and acquisition opportunities in the future, including veterinary hospitals. If we are unable to manage acquisitions, investments, or strategic ventures, or integrate any acquired businesses, services, or technologies effectively, we may not realize the expected benefits from the transaction relative to the consideration paid, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. To be successful, the integration process requires us to achieve the benefits of combining the companies, including generating operating efficiencies and synergies, successfully integrating personnel, and eliminating or reducing redundant costs. This integration process involves inherent uncertainties, and we cannot assure you that the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions will be fully realized without incurring unanticipated costs or diverting management’s attention from our core operations. Additionally, acquisitions and other transactions may be subject to regulatory challenges from antitrust or other regulatory authorities that may be lengthy and/or costly and may ultimately block, delay or impose conditions (such as divestitures, ownership or operational restrictions or other structural or behavioral remedies) on the completion of transactions or the integration of acquired operations.
From time to time we also make strategic investments. These investments typically involve many of the same risks posed by acquisitions, particularly those risks associated with the diversion of our resources, the inability of the new venture to generate sufficient revenues or a return on our investment, the management of relationships with third parties, and potential expenses. Strategic ventures have the added risk that the other strategic venture partners may have economic, business, or legal interests or objectives that are inconsistent with our interests and objectives.
We may also be unsuccessful in identifying and evaluating business, legal, or financial risks as part of the due diligence process associated with a particular transaction. Furthermore, acquired entities or businesses may have differing or inadequate controls, procedures, or policies, including those related to financial reporting, disclosure, practice management, handling of controlled substances, and cyber and information security, which could expose us
to additional risks and potentially increase anticipated costs or time to integrate the business. In addition, some investments may result in the incurrence of debt or may have contingent consideration components that may require us to pay additional amounts in the future in relation to future performance results of the subject business. If we do enter into agreements with respect to these transactions, we may fail to complete them due to factors such as failure to obtain regulatory or other approvals. We may be unable to realize the full benefits from these transactions, such as increased net sales or enhanced efficiencies, within the timeframes that we expect, or at all. These events could divert attention from our other businesses and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any future acquisitions also could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of additional debt, or the assumption of contingent liabilities.
Our reputation and business may be harmed if our or our vendors’ computer network security or any of the databases containing customer, employee, or other personal information maintained by us or our third-party providers is compromised, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
We collect, store, and/or transmit proprietary or confidential information regarding our customers, employees, job applicants, and others, including credit card information and personally identifiable information. We also collect, store, and transmit employees’ health information in order to administer employee benefits, accommodate disabilities and injuries, and to comply with public health requirements. The protection of customer, employee, and company data in the information technology systems we use (including those maintained by third-party providers) is critical. In the normal course of business, we are and have been the target of malicious cyber-attack attempts and have experienced other cybersecurity incidents.
While to date, we do not believe such identified cybersecurity incidents have been material to us, including to our reputation or business operations, or had a material financial impact on us, we cannot assure you that such incidents or future cyber-incidents will not expose us to material liability. Security could be compromised and confidential information, such as customer credit card numbers or account information, employee information, or other personally identifiable information that we or our vendors collect, transmit, or store, could be misappropriated or system disruptions could occur. In addition, cyber-attacks such as ransomware or phishing attacks could lock us out of our information systems and disrupt our operations. We may not have the resources or technical sophistication to anticipate or prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks. Attacks may be targeted at us, our customers, our employees, our vendors, or others who have entrusted us with information. Actual or anticipated attacks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees, and engage third-party experts and consultants. Advances in computer capabilities, including as a result of artificial intelligence ("AI"), supercomputing, new technological discoveries, or other developments may result in the breach or compromise of the technology used or maintained by us to protect transactions or other sensitive data. In addition, data and security breaches could also occur as a result of systems misconfigurations as well as non-technical issues, such as intentional or inadvertent breaches by our employees or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships, that result in the unauthorized release or availability of personal or confidential information. Additionally, it may take considerable time for us to investigate and evaluate the full impact of cybersecurity incidents, particularly for sophisticated or widespread attacks. These factors may inhibit our ability to provide prompt, full, and/or reliable information about the incident to our customers, partners, regulators, and the public. Any compromise or breach of our or our vendors’ computer network security could result in a violation of applicable privacy and other laws, costly investigations, litigation, including class actions, and notification, as well as potential regulatory or other actions by governmental agencies and harm to our brand, business, and results of operations. As a result of any of the foregoing, we could experience adverse publicity, loss of sales, the cost of remedial measures, including substantial legal fees, and significant expenditures to reimburse third parties for damages, each of which could adversely impact our results of operations. While we maintain cyber and crime insurance, any such insurance may not be sufficient to cover actual losses, may not apply to the circumstances relating to any particular loss or incident, or may become materially more costly over time.
The techniques used by criminals to obtain unauthorized access to sensitive data change frequently and often cannot be recognized until launched against a target. Accordingly, we or our vendors may not be able to anticipate these frequently changing techniques or implement adequate preventive measures for all of them. Failure by us or our vendors to comply with data security requirements, including the CCPA’s (as modified by the CPRA) “reasonable security” requirement in light of the private right of action, or rectify a security issue may result in class action litigation, fines, and the imposition of restrictions on our ability to accept payment cards, which could adversely affect our operations. We cannot assure you that we or our vendors will be able to satisfy the Payment Card Industry (“PCI”) Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”). In addition, PCI is controlled by a limited number of vendors that have the ability to impose changes in fee structures and operational requirements without negotiation. Such changes in fees and operational requirements may result in our failure to comply with PCI DSS, as well as significant unanticipated expenses. Any unauthorized access into our customers’ or employees’ sensitive information, or other data handled by or on behalf of us, even if we are compliant with industry security standards, could put us at a competitive disadvantage, result in deterioration of our customers’ or employees’ confidence in us, and subject us to potential litigation, liability, fines, and penalties and consent decrees, which could require us to expend significant resources related to remediation or result in a disruption of our operations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If our information systems or infrastructure or those of our vendors fail to perform as designed or are interrupted for a significant period of time, our business could be adversely affected.
The efficient operation of our business is dependent on our information systems and those of our vendors. In particular, we rely on our information systems to effectively manage our financial and operational data, to maintain our in-stock positions, and to transact the sale of our products in our pet care centers and online. The failure of our information systems or those of our vendors to perform as designed, the loss of data, or any interruption of our information systems or those of our vendors for an extended period of time could disrupt our business.
Our operations also depend on our ability to maintain and protect the computer systems we use to manage our purchase orders, pet care center inventory levels, web applications, accounting functions, and other critical aspects of our business. Our systems and those of our vendors are vulnerable to damage from extreme weather, fire, floods, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist and cyber-attacks, employee error, and similar events. Our disaster recovery planning and those of our vendors may not be sufficient to adequately respond to any such events. In addition, we may have inadequate insurance coverage to compensate for any related losses and expenses. Any of these events could damage our reputation, disrupt our business, supply chain, or sales, and be expensive to remedy.
We continue to invest in our information systems and IT infrastructure. Enhancement to or replacement of our major financial or operational information systems could have a significant impact on our ability to conduct our business operations and increase our risk of loss resulting from disruptions of normal operating processes and procedures that may occur during the implementation of new information systems. It may also require us to divest resources to ensure that implementation is successful. We can make no assurances that the costs of investments in our information systems will not exceed estimates, that the systems will be implemented without material disruption, or that the systems will be as beneficial as predicted. If any of these events occur, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
Negative publicity arising from claims that we do not properly care for animals we handle or sell could adversely affect how we are perceived by the public and reduce our sales and profitability.
From time to time, we receive claims or complaints alleging that we do not properly care for some of the pets we handle or for companion animals we handle and sell, which may include dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, and other small animals. Deaths, illnesses, or injuries sometimes occur while animals are in our care. As a result, we may be subject to claims that our animal care practices, including grooming, training, veterinary, and other services, or the related training of our associates or handling of animals by them, do not provide the proper level of care. Any such claims or complaints, as well as any related news reports or reports on social media, even if inaccurate or untrue, could cause negative publicity, which in turn could harm our business and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, legislative or regulatory initiatives in certain jurisdictions restricting the retail sale of pets, could expand to additional markets, and if adopted at scale, could adversely affect our sales, operations, and financial results.
Our international operations and evolving foreign trade policy may result in additional market risks, which may adversely affect our business.
As our international operations grow, they may require greater management and financial resources. International operations require the integration of personnel with varying cultural and business backgrounds and an understanding of the relevant differences in the cultural, legal, and regulatory environments. Our results may be increasingly affected by the risks of our international activities, including:
challenges anticipating or responding to the impact that local culture and market forces may have on local consumer preferences and trends;
fluctuations in currency exchanges rates;
changes in international staffing and employment issues;
the imposition of taxes, duties, tariffs, or other trade barriers;
shipping or customs delays;
greater difficulty in utilizing and enforcing our intellectual property rights;
the burden of complying with foreign laws, including regulatory regimes, tax laws, privacy laws, labor and employment laws, and financial accounting standards;
political and economic instability and developments;
issues or disputes arising with our joint venture partners, if any, in such operations; and
the risk that a health epidemic, pandemic or similar outbreak, or natural disaster or extreme weather event causes disruptions in any country where we have, or rely on, significant employee presence, facilities, or critical operations, thereby impairing our ability to manage day-to-day operations and service our customers, increasing our costs of operations, and resulting in potential losses in revenue.
Moreover, our products are sourced from a wide variety of vendors, including from vendors overseas, such as China. In addition, some of the products that we purchase from vendors in the United States also depend, in whole or in part, on vendors located outside the U.S. There continues to be significant uncertainty regarding the future of international trade agreements and ultimately the United States’ consistent position on international trade. For example, the U.S. government has threatened to undertake a number of actions relating to trade with Mexico, including the closure of the border and has imposed tariffs on goods imported into the United States from Mexico, and Canada. In addition, the U.S. government has issued sanctions on Chinese companies, raised tariffs, and during 2025 imposed new tariffs on a wide range of imports of Chinese products and may impose additional tariffs in the future. Moreover, recent U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Mexico, Canada, and other countries and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries have resulted in and are expected to continue to result in us incurring additional costs to procure a portion of the merchandise we offer. While we take steps to mitigate or avoid these increased costs and disruptions, such as through selectively raising prices on certain products or altering sourcing, our ability to do so may be limited by competitive pressures, customer acceptance, and operational and supply chain constraints, especially in the short term. Additional trade restrictions, including sanctions, tariffs, quotas, embargoes, safeguards, border shutdowns, and customs restrictions, could further increase the cost or reduce the supply of products available to us and to our vendors based in the United States and may require us to modify our supply chain organization or other current business practices or raise prices further, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and competitive position.
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate due to the timing of expenses, new pet care center openings, pet care center closures, and other factors.
Our expansion plans, including the timing of new and remodeled pet care centers and veterinary hospitals, and related pre-opening costs, the amount of net sales contributed by new and existing pet care centers, and the timing of and estimated costs associated with pet care center closings or relocations, may cause our quarterly results of operations to fluctuate. Further, new pet care centers and service offerings tend to experience higher payroll, advertising, and other store-level expenses as a percentage of net sales than more mature pet care centers, and such openings also often contribute to lower pet care center operating margins until those pet care centers mature, which may result in quarterly fluctuations in operating results. Quarterly operating results are not necessarily accurate predictors of long-term performance.
Quarterly operating results may also vary depending on a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
changes in our pricing policies or those of our competitors;
our sales and channels mix and the relevant gross margins of the products and services sold;
the hiring and retention of key personnel;
wage, cost, and inflationary pressures;
fluctuations in claims for which we are self-insured;
changes in fuel prices or electrical rates;
costs related to acquisitions of businesses; and
general economic factors, including new or increased tariffs or other trade restrictions.
Pet consumables safety, quality, and health concerns could adversely affect our business.
We could be adversely affected if consumers lose confidence in the safety and quality of our owned brand or vendor-supplied consumable pet products and supplies. Adverse publicity about these types of concerns, whether valid or not, may discourage consumers from buying the products in our locations or cause vendor production and delivery disruptions. The actual or perceived sale of contaminated pet consumables by our vendors or us could result in product liability claims against our vendors or us and a loss of consumer confidence, which could have an adverse effect on our sales and operations. In addition, if our products are alleged to pose a risk of injury or illness, or if they are alleged to have been mislabeled, misbranded, or adulterated, or to otherwise be in violation of governmental regulations, we may be subject to fines or litigation costs, and may need to find alternate ingredients for our products, delay production of our products, or discard or otherwise dispose of our products, which could adversely affect our results of operations. If this occurs after the affected product has been distributed, we may need to withdraw or recall the affected product. Given the difficulty in converting pet food customers, if we lose customers due to a loss of confidence in safety or quality, it may be difficult to reacquire such customers.
Restrictions imposed in reaction to outbreaks of animal diseases or health epidemics, pandemics, and similar outbreaks, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If animal diseases, such as mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as “bird flu,” impact the availability of the protein-based ingredients our vendors use in products, our vendors may be required to locate alternative sources for protein-based ingredients. Those sources may not be available to sustain our sales volumes, may be costlier, and may affect the quality and nutritional value of our products. If outbreaks of mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, bird flu, or any other animal disease, or the regulation or publicity resulting therefrom impacts the cost of the protein-based ingredients we have in our products, or the cost of the alternative protein-based ingredients necessary for our products as compared to our current costs, we may be required to increase the prices of our products to avoid margin deterioration. However, we may not be able to charge higher prices for our products without negatively impacting future sales volumes.
The Company faces risks related to outbreaks of communicable diseases among pets including, but not limited to, canine parvo virus, kennel cough, leptospirosis, feline and canine distemper and canine influenza virus. A widespread outbreak of any communicable disease can cause decreased customer demand for the Company’s grooming, training, and veterinary services as customers avoid public spaces with other pets in order to avoid contracting the applicable disease. The future impact of any such outbreak of a communicable disease is difficult to predict and dependent on the severity, magnitude and duration of the outbreak.
Fluctuations in the prices and availability of certain commodities, such as grains and meat protein, could materially adversely affect our operating results.
The pet food and supplies industry is subject to risks related to increases in the prices and availability of certain commodities used in the production of certain pet food and other pet-related products, specifically seed, wheat, and rice, as well as other materials that are used in the production of certain pet accessories. Additionally, increased human and/or pet consumption or population increases may potentially limit the supply of or increase prices for certain meat proteins, many of which are used in animal feed. Throughout 2025, costs of certain commodities continued to increase due to increased fuel prices, heightened transportation costs, tariffs and other trade restrictions, and general inflationary pressures, and at times we have resultingly observed increases in the costs we pay for certain vendor-supplied products. To help mitigate the impact of these cost increases, we have in the past implemented select price increases, which is consistent with our historical practice. However, our ability to pass on increased purchase costs both now and in the future is and will be significantly impacted by market conditions and competitive factors. If we are unable to pass on any increased purchase costs to customers, we would experience reduced margins and could experience decreased demand for our products and servicess, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our real estate leases generally obligate us for long periods, which subjects us to various financial risks.
We lease all of our pet care center and distribution center locations generally for long terms. While we have the right to terminate some of our leases under specified conditions by making specified payments, we may not be able to terminate a particular lease if or when we would like to do so. If we decide to close pet care centers, we are generally required to continue paying rent and operating expenses for the balance of the lease term, or to pay to exercise rights to terminate, and the performance of any of these obligations may be expensive. When we assign or sublease vacated locations, we may remain liable for the lease obligations if the assignee or sublessee does not perform. In addition, when leases for the pet care centers in our ongoing operations expire, we may be unable to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms, or at all, which could cause us to close pet care centers. Accordingly, we are subject to the risks associated with leasing real estate, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Further, the success of our pet care centers depends on a number of factors, including the sustained success of the commercial area where the pet care center is located, consumer demographics, and consumer shopping habits and patterns. Changes in consumer shopping habits and patterns, reduced customer traffic in the commercial areas where our pet care centers are located, financial difficulties of our landlords, anchor tenants, or a significant number of other retailers, and shopping center vacancies or closures could impact the profitability of our pet care centers and increase the likelihood that our landlords fail to fulfill their obligations and conditions under our lease agreements. While we have certain remedies and protections under our lease agreements, the loss of business that could result if a shopping center should close or if customer traffic were to significantly decline as a result of lost tenants or improper care of the facilities or due to macroeconomic effects could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Failure to attract and retain quality employees and experienced management personnel could adversely affect our performance.
Our performance depends on recruiting, developing, training, and retaining top talent in our support centers, partners who are capable sales associates in large numbers in our pet care centers, experienced personnel in our distribution centers, and experienced management personnel. Our ability to meet our labor needs while controlling labor costs is subject to external factors such as unemployment levels, prevailing wage rates, minimum wage legislation, inflationary pressures, the availability of qualified persons in the markets where we operate, changing demographics, behavioral changes, health and other insurance costs, and governmental labor and employment requirements. We have in the past faced labor shortages at several of our distribution centers, which adversely affected our operations. We have also faced, and could continue to face, increased wage competition and costs across our business in recruiting and retaining top talent. In recent years, various legislative movements have sought to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States and the minimum wage in a number of individual states, some of which have been successful at the state level. As federal or state minimum wage rates increase, or market pressures upwardly impact prevailing competitive wage rates, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage partners but also the wages paid to our other hourly partners. If we fail to offer competitive wages, we could fail to recruit and retain top talent and face labor shortages or staffing issues, and the quality of our workforce could decline, causing our customer service to suffer, while increasing our wages could cause our earnings to decrease. Moreover, failure to achieve and maintain a talented workforce and leadership team, maintain a safe and inclusive environment or promote the well-being of our employees could affect our reputation and also result in lower performance and an inability to retain valuable employees. If we do not continue to attract, train, and retain quality associates and management personnel, our performance could be adversely affected.
Labor disputes may have an adverse effect on our operations.
We are not currently party to a collective bargaining agreement with any of our employees. We have, however, experienced attempted union organizing campaigns in the past, and may continue to experience union organizing campaigns, which can be disruptive to our operations, increase our labor and operating costs, and decrease our operational flexibility. We cannot assure you that some or all of our employees will not become covered by a collective bargaining agreement or that we will not encounter labor conflicts or strikes. In addition, organized labor may benefit from new legislation or legal interpretations, as well as current or future unionization efforts among other large employers; we therefore cannot provide any assurance that we will not experience additional and/or successful union organization activity in the future. Any labor disruptions could have an adverse effect on our business or results of operations and could cause us to lose customers. Further, our responses to any union organizing efforts could negatively impact our reputation and have adverse effects on our business, including on our financial results.
Claims under our insurance plans and policies may differ from our estimates, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
We use a combination of insurance and self-insurance plans to provide coverage for potential liabilities for workers’ compensation, general liability, business interruption, property damage, directors’ and officers’ liability, vehicle liability, cybersecurity and criminal incidents that we suffer, and employee health-care benefits. Our insurance coverage may not be sufficient, and any insurance proceeds may not be timely paid to us. Moreover, as insurance premiums continue to increase, we cannot be certain that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, liabilities associated with the risks that are retained by us are estimated, in part, by considering historical claims experience, demographic factors, severity factors, and other actuarial assumptions, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected if these assumptions are incorrect.
Resistance from veterinarians to authorize prescriptions or attempts/efforts on their part to discourage pet owners from purchasing from us could cause our sales to decrease and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
The laws and regulations relating to the sale and delivery of prescription pet medications vary from state to state, but generally require that prescription pet medications be dispensed with authorization from a prescribing veterinarian. Some veterinarians may decide to resist providing our customers with a copy of their pet’s prescription or resist authorizing the prescription to the pharmacy staff of our fulfillment vendor, thereby effectively preventing us from filling such prescriptions under applicable law. Certain veterinarians may decide to discourage pet owners from purchasing from internet mail order pharmacies. If the number of veterinarians who refuse to authorize prescriptions to the pharmacy staff of our fulfillment vendor increases, or if veterinarians are successful in discouraging pet owners from purchasing from us, our sales could decrease and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Our results may be adversely affected by serious disruptions or catastrophic events, including public health issues, geopolitical events, and severe weather.
Geopolitical events, such as war or civil unrest in a country in which our vendors are located or dependent upon, or terrorist or military activities disrupting transportation, communication, or utility systems, local protests, and unrest and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and other severe weather and climate conditions, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, particularly during peak seasonal periods, have disrupted and in the future could disrupt our operations or the operations of one or more of our vendors, in the affected areas, and damage or destroy one or more of our pet care centers or distribution centers located in the affected areas. Such events could also result in temporary or long-term supply chain disruptions, or cause increased transportation costs (whether due to fuel prices, fuel supply, or otherwise). For example, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have resulted, and could continue to result, in volatile commodity markets, supply chain disruptions, and increased costs for transportation, energy, packaging and raw materials and other input costs. Further, even if a severe weather event does not ultimately cause damage to any of our pet care centers or distribution centers, we expend significant efforts in anticipation of such event to protect the health and safety of our partners, guests, and the live animals that we sell and/or offer for adoption in the subject area. As a result of any such events, day-to-day operations, particularly our ability to receive products from our vendors or transport products to our pet care centers, could be adversely affected, or we could be required to close pet care
centers or distribution centers in the affected areas or in areas served by the affected distribution center. These factors have caused and could in the future cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or otherwise become less predictable during the particular event. Further, these factors could result in increased volatility in the United States and the global economy, including financial markets. These or other occurrences could significantly impact our operating results and financial performance.
A potential result of climate change is more frequent or more severe weather events or natural disasters. To the extent such weather events or natural disasters do become more frequent or severe, disruptions to our business, including store closures and/or damage, and our vendors and costs to repair damaged facilities or maintain or resume operations could increase. The long-term impacts of climate change, whether involving physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels) or transition risks (such as regulatory or technology changes or increased operating costs, including the cost of insurance) could be widespread and unpredictable. These changes over time could also affect, for example, the availability and cost of certain products, insurance, commodities (including grains and proteins), and energy (including utilities), which in turn may impact our ability to procure those certain goods or services required for the operation of our business at the quantities and levels we require or on otherwise commercially reasonable terms.
Inventory loss and theft may negatively affect the business.
Efficient management of assets and inventory is important to our business success and profitability. Some level of inventory loss or theft is an inherent cost of the retail business and can be caused by a number of factors, including error or misconduct by employees, customers, or vendors. However, if these incidents were to increase in frequency or severity, or if we were required to invest more heavily in security and maintenance efforts, our financial results could be negatively affected.
Inflation has adversely impacted, and is expected to continue to adversely impact, our financial condition and results of operations.
Inflation in the United States remained elevated throughout fiscal 2025. This is primarily believed to be the result of a multitude of factors, including elevated costs of product inputs and transportation costs, increased labor costs, and spending of excess savings, among other factors. Additionally, the imposition of tariffs on imports by the U.S. has resulted in higher input costs. We have experienced inflationary pressures in certain areas of our business, including with respect to employee wages and the cost of merchandise, and it has become increasingly difficult to mitigate such pressures through price increases. We cannot predict any future trends in the rate of inflation or associated increases in our operating costs and how that may impact our business. To the extent we are unable to recover higher operating costs resulting from inflation or otherwise mitigate the impact of such costs on our business, our revenues and gross margins could decrease, and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Furthermore, inflation has resulted in, and may continue to result in, decreased customer spending on certain discretionary items, such as supplies and companion animal sales, which has adversely impacted our revenues and gross margins.
We use artificial intelligence in our business, and challenges with properly managing its use could result in harm to our brand, reputation, business or customers, and adversely affect our results of operations.
We are implementing the use of AI solutions, including machine learning and generative AI tools (both internal and external) that collect, aggregate, transcribe, and analyze data to assist in the development of our services and products and in the use of internal tools that support our business. These applications may become increasingly important in our operations over time. This emerging technology presents a number of legal, compliance, privacy, security, and ethical risks inherent in its use. AI algorithms are based on machine learning and predictive analytics, which can create accuracy issues, unintended biases, and discriminatory outcomes that could harm our brand, reputation, business, or customers. Additionally, no assurance can be made that the usage of AI will assist us in being more efficient or offset the costs of its development and implementation. Further, dependence on AI without adequate safeguards to make certain business decisions may introduce additional operational vulnerabilities by producing inaccurate outcomes, recommendations, or other suggestions based on flaws in the underlying data or other unintended results. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their business, services, and products more rapidly or more successfully than us, which could hinder our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations. Implementing the use of AI successfully, ethically and as intended will require significant resources. In addition, the use of AI may increase regulatory, cybersecurity, intellectual property,
consumer protection, discrimination, and data privacy risks, such as intended, unintended, or inadvertent transmission of proprietary or sensitive information, infringement on third parties' intellectual property rights, or discrimination against job applicants. The technologies underlying AI and their use cases are rapidly developing, and it is not possible to predict all of the legal, operational or technological risks related to the use of AI. While new AI initiatives, laws, and regulations are emerging and evolving, they have largely been implemented at the state and local level and what they ultimately will look like in the aggregate remains uncertain, and our obligation to comply with them could entail significant costs, negatively affect our business, or limit our ability to incorporate certain AI capabilities into our business.
We may not achieve some or all of the expected benefits of certain actions we have undertaken to enhance profitability and drive performance and such actions may adversely affect our business.
We have undertaken, and may undertake in the future, actions intended to enhance our profitability and drive performance. In late fiscal 2024 we began efforts to optimize our assortment and store labor model, and take costs out of all areas of our business in an effort to enhance profitability and drive performance. Implementation of any such actions may be costly and disruptive to our business, and we may not be able to obtain the anticipated cost savings and operational improvements within the projected timing or at all. Additionally, as a result of these actions, we may experience a loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge and/or inefficiency, loss of key employees and/or other retention issues during transitional periods. These actions also require a significant amount of time and focus, which may divert attention from operating and growing our business. Moreover, projections of any cost savings or other benefits associated with these actions are based on current business operations and market dynamics, and could be significantly impacted by various factors, including but not limited to general economic conditions, future investment decisions, and the market environment.
Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters
Our operations are subject to extensive governmental regulation, and we may incur material liabilities under, or costs in order to comply with, existing or future laws and regulations. Our failure to comply with such laws and regulations may result in enforcements, recalls, and other adverse actions that could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our financial results.
Our operations, including those of some of our vendors, are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations established by OSHA, the FDA, the USDA, the DEA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), and by various other federal, state, local, and foreign authorities. These laws and regulations govern, among other things: our relationships with employees, including minimum wage requirements, overtime, terms and conditions of employment, working conditions, and citizenship requirements; the weights and measures of our products; the manufacturing and distribution of foods, drugs, and controlled substances intended for animal use; our businesses that provide veterinary services and pet insurance plans; the transportation, handling, and sale of small pets; emissions to air and water and the generation, handling, storage, discharge, transportation, disposal, and remediation of waste and hazardous materials; the processing, storage, distribution, safety, advertising, labeling, promotion, and import or export of our products; providing services to our customers; contracted services with various third-party providers; credit and debit card processing; the handling, security, protection, and use of personal information; and the licensing and certification of services. For more information regarding laws and regulations that we are subject to, please read “Business—Government Regulation.”
Violations of or liability under applicable laws and regulations may result in administrative, civil or criminal fines, penalties, or sanctions against us, revocation or modification of applicable permits, licenses, or authorizations, environmental, health and safety investigations or remedial activities, voluntary or involuntary product recalls, warning or untitled letters or cease and desist orders against operations that are not in compliance, and/or third-party liability claims against us, among other things. Such laws and regulations generally have become more stringent over time and may become more so in the future, and we expect to incur (directly, or indirectly through our outsourced private brand manufacturing partners) significant costs to comply with current or future laws and regulations or in any required product recalls. Some of these laws and regulations are subject to varying and uncertain interpretations, application, and enforcement by courts and regulatory authorities with broad discretion, which can mean that our efforts to maintain compliance in all jurisdictions are not always successful. Liabilities under, costs of compliance with, and the impacts on us of any alleged or determined non-compliance with any such laws and regulations could materially and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, changes in the laws and regulations to which we are subject could impose significant
limitations and require changes to our business, which may increase our compliance expenses, make our business costlier and less efficient to conduct, and compromise our growth strategy. Although we routinely obtain broad indemnities from our vendors in respect of their products, we could be adversely affected if we were found not to be in compliance with applicable regulations and we were not made whole by our vendors.
Among other regulatory requirements, the FDA regulates the inclusion of specific claims in pet product labeling. For example, pet food products that are labeled or marketed with claims that may suggest that they are intended to treat or prevent disease in pets would potentially meet the statutory definitions of both a food and a drug. The FDA has issued guidance containing a list of specific factors it will consider in determining whether to initiate an enforcement action against such products if they do not comply with the regulatory requirements applicable to drugs. These factors include, among other things, whether the product is only made available through or under the direction of a veterinarian and does not present a known safety risk when used as labeled. While we believe that we market our products in compliance with the policy articulated in the FDA’s guidance and in other claim-specific guidance, the FDA may disagree or may classify some of our products differently than we do, and may impose more stringent regulations which could lead to alleged regulatory violations, enforcement actions, and/or product recalls. In addition, we may produce new products in the future that may be subject to FDA pre-market review before we can market and sell such products. Our distribution centers are also subject to periodic inspection by the FDA and other governmental authorities.
Currently, many states in the United States have adopted the AAFCO’s definition of the term “natural” with respect to the pet food industry, which means a feed or feed ingredient derived solely from plant, animal, or mined sources not having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur in good manufacturing practices. Certain of our pet food products use the term “natural” in their labelling or marketing materials. As a result, we may incur material costs to comply with any new labeling requirements relating to the term “natural” and could be subject to liabilities if we fail to timely comply with such requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Among the many state rules and regulations we are required to comply with is, the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, also referred to as Proposition 65, which requires “clear and reasonable” warnings be given to persons who are exposed to chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Interpretation and application of such rules may give rise to uncertainty as to the appropriate labeling and formulation of our products. Failure by any of our co-packers or other suppliers, particularly those we do not control the manufacturing process for, to comply with Proposition 65 could lead to the Company being adversely affected by litigation or regulatory enforcement.
Failure to comply with governmental regulations or the expansion of existing or the enactment of new laws or regulations applicable to our veterinary services could adversely affect our business and our financial condition or lead to fines, litigation, or our inability to offer veterinary products or services in certain states.
All of the states in which we operate impose various registration, permit, and/or licensing requirements relating to the provision of veterinary products and services. To fulfill these requirements, we believe that we have registered with appropriate governmental agencies and, where required, have appointed a licensed veterinarian to act on behalf of each facility. All veterinarians practicing in our veterinary service businesses are required to maintain valid state licenses to practice.
In addition, certain states have laws, rules, and regulations which require that veterinary medical practices be owned by licensed veterinarians and that corporations which are not owned by licensed veterinarians refrain from providing, or holding themselves out as providers of, veterinary medical care, or directly employing or otherwise exercising control over veterinarians providing such care. We may experience difficulty in expanding our operations into other states or jurisdictions with similar laws, rules, and regulations. Although we believe that we have structured our operations to comply with our understanding of the veterinary medicine laws of each state or jurisdiction in which we operate, interpretive legal precedent and regulatory guidance varies by jurisdiction and is sometimes sparse and not fully developed. A determination that we are in violation of applicable restrictions on the practice of veterinary medicine in any jurisdiction in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on us, particularly if we are unable to restructure our operations to comply with the requirements of that jurisdiction.
We strive to comply with all applicable laws, regulations and other legal obligations applicable to any veterinary services we provide. It is possible, however, that these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot guarantee that our practices have complied, comply, or will comply fully with all such laws, regulations,
requirements, and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our filed permits and licenses with any applicable federal-, state-, or international-related laws, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, orders to which we may be subject, or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand, and business, and may result in claims, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others or other liabilities. Any such claim, proceeding, or action could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defending such proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of customers and vendors, and may result in the imposition of monetary liability. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any laws or regulations applicable to our veterinary services. In addition, various federal, state, and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies may expand existing laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations, or issue revised rules or guidance applicable to our veterinary services. Any such changes may force us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices. This could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy effectively and may adversely affect our ability to acquire customers or otherwise harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Regulation of the sale of pet insurance is subject to change, and future regulations could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.
O ur business operates in the pet insurance market. The laws and regulations governing the offer, sale, and purchase of pet insurance are subject to change, and future changes may be adverse to our business. For example, if a jurisdiction were to alter the requirements for obtaining or maintaining an agent’s license in connection with the enrollment of a member, it could have a material adverse effect on our operations. Some states in the U.S. have adopted, and others are expected to adopt, new laws and regulations related to the pet insurance industry. It is difficult to predict how these or any other new laws and regulations will impact our business, but, in some cases, changes in insurance laws, regulations, and guidelines may require that we make significant modifications to our practices, which may be costly and difficult to implement, could harm our ability to effectively grow our pet insurance offerings, and could also harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to risks related to online payment methods and our Petco Pay promotional financing program .
We currently accept payments using a variety of methods, including, but not limited to, credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Klarna, and gift cards. As we offer new payment options to consumers, we may be subject to additional regulations, compliance requirements, fraud, and other risks. For certain payment methods, we pay interchange and other fees, which often increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. As a merchant that accepts debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to PCI DSS, which contains compliance guidelines and standards with regard to the physical, administrative, and technical security requirements for storing, processing, and transmitting of individual cardholder data. By accepting debit cards for payment, we are also subject to compliance with American National Standards Institute data encryption standards and payment network security operating guidelines. Additionally, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires systems that print payment card receipts to employ personal account number truncation so that the cardholder’s full account number is not viewable on the slip.
Failure to be PCI compliant or to meet other payment card standards may result in the imposition of financial penalties or the allocation by the card brands of the costs of fraudulent charges to us. Additionally, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires systems that print payment card receipts to employ personal account number truncation so that the customer’s full account number is not viewable on the slip.
As our business changes, we may be subject to different rules under existing standards, which may require new assessments that involve costs above what we currently pay for compliance. In the future, as we offer new payment options to consumers, including by way of integrating emerging mobile and other payment methods, we may be subject to additional regulations, compliance requirements, licenses, and fraud. If we fail to comply with the rules or requirements of any provider of a payment method we accept, if the volume of fraud in our transactions limits or terminates our rights to use payment methods we currently accept, or if a data breach occurs relating to our payment systems, we may, among other things, be subject to fines, legal proceedings, or higher transaction fees and may lose, or face restrictions placed upon, our ability to accept credit card payments from consumers or facilitate other types of online payments. If any of these events were to occur, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We also occasionally receive orders placed with fraudulent cardholder, customer, or account data. Although we have measures in place to detect, reduce, and mitigate the occurrence of such fraudulent activity, those measures
are not always effective, and we have incurred, and could in the future continue to incur, financial losses, losses of customers, and reputational harm for such fraudulent transactions, which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our marketing programs, e-commerce initiatives, and use of personal information are governed by an evolving set of laws and enforcement trends, and changes in privacy laws or trends, or our failure to comply with existing or future laws, could substantially harm our business and results of operations.
We collect, maintain, use, and share personal information provided to us through online activities and other consumer, employee, applicant, and business-to-business interactions in order to provide a better experience for our customers, employees, and vendors. Our current and future marketing programs depend on our ability to collect, maintain, use, and share this personal information with service providers and other vendors, and our ability to do so depends on the trust that our customers place in us and our ability to maintain that trust. Additionally, our use of consumer data is subject to the terms of our privacy policies and certain contractual restrictions in vendor contracts as well as evolving federal, state, and international laws and enforcement trends. While we strive to comply with all such regulatory and contractual obligations and believe that we are good stewards of the data of our customers, employees, vendors, and applicants, this area is rapidly evolving, and these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another, may conflict with other rules, or may conflict with our practices. If we violate privacy laws, we would suffer damage to our reputation and be subject to proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others. Due to the rapidly evolving nature of this area of the law, we have seen an increase in claims filed against us and others by plaintiffs and state regulatory authorities alleging violations of various data privacy laws. Although no such proceeding asserted or filed against us has subjected us to material liability to date, any such proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant amounts to defend our practices, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, and result in monetary liability and/or injunctive relief impacting our marketing, analytics, and other business operations.
One of the ways we track consumer data and interactions for marketing purposes, as well as advertise certain employment or independent contractor opportunities, is through the use of third-party “cookies” and similar online tracking technologies. Federal and state governmental authorities continue to evaluate the privacy implications inherent in the use of third-party cookies and other methods of online tracking (such as pixels, tags, and beacons) for behavioral advertising and other purposes. The U.S. government and various states have enacted, have considered, or are considering legislation or regulations that significantly restrict the ability of companies and individuals to engage in these activities, such as by regulating the level of consumer notice and consent required before a company can employ cookies or other electronic tracking tools or the use of data gathered with such tools. In addition, private litigants have claimed the use of these tracking technologies invades their privacy, violates privacy or other laws, or constitutes an unfair business practice. Additionally, some providers of consumer devices and web browsers have implemented, or announced plans to implement, means to make it easier for internet users to prevent the placement of cookies or to block other tracking technologies, which could, if widely adopted, result in the use of third-party cookies and other methods of online tracking becoming significantly less effective, including for behavioral advertising and recruiting purposes. The regulation of the use of these cookies and other current online tracking, recruiting, and advertising practices or a loss in our ability to make effective use of services that employ such technologies could increase our costs of operations and/or recruitment, and limit our ability to acquire new customers and/or staff on cost-effective terms and, consequently, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, continue to expand or further enforce current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations, or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, consumer protection, and advertising. For example, in June 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), which took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA gave California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain uses of personal information, and receive detailed information about what personal information is collected, how their personal information is used, and how that personal information is shared. The CCPA provided for civil penalties for violations enforced by the California Attorney General, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that has resulted in an increase in consumer class actions and other litigation. Further, on November 3, 2020, the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”) was voted into law by California residents and went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CPRA significantly amends the CCPA, and imposes additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes and opt outs
for certain uses of sensitive data. It also created the California Privacy Protection Agency, a new data protection agency specifically tasked to issue privacy regulations and enforce the law, which results in increased regulatory scrutiny of California businesses in the areas of data collection, protection, and security. The CCPA and CPRA marked the beginning of a trend toward more stringent state privacy legislation in the United States. Similar laws have been passed in several states, and have been proposed in additional states and at the federal level. Such laws have conflicting requirements that make compliance challenging. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur costs to adapt our systems and practices to comply with these requirements, and these costs may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, our risk of regulatory enforcement, investigations, fines, and penalties increases with each state that passes similar privacy laws. Further, the FTC and many state attorneys general have interpreted existing federal and state consumer protection laws to impose evolving standards for the collection, use, dissemination, and security of other personal data. Courts may also adopt the standards for fair information practices promulgated by the FTC, which concern consumer notice, choice, security, and access. Consumer protection laws require us to publish statements that describe how we handle personal data and choices individuals may have about the way we handle their personal data. If such information that we publish is considered untrue, we could be subject to government and private claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, which would lead to significant liabilities and consequences. Further, according to the FTC, violating consumers’ privacy rights or failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal data secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Each of these privacy, security, and data protection laws and regulations—and others, including the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, regulating our use of certain electronic mail marketing and state data breach notification laws requiring notifications to state residents in certain instances—and any other such changes or new laws or regulations, could impose significant limitations, require ongoing changes to our business, or restrict our use or storage of personal information, which would increase our compliance expenses and make our business costlier or less efficient to conduct. In addition, any such changes could compromise our ability to develop an adequate marketing strategy and pursue our growth strategy effectively, which, in turn, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We face the risk of litigation resulting from unauthorized text messages and/or telephone calls made in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and its state law equivalents.
We send short message service, or SMS, text messages to customers and job candidates, and make outbound telephone calls. The actual or perceived improper sending of text messages or placing of telephone calls subjects us to potential risks, including liabilities or claims relating to consumer protection laws. For example, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, a federal statute that protects consumers from unwanted telephone calls, faxes, and text messages, restricts telemarketing and the use of automated SMS text messages and certain dialing practices without proper consent. Numerous class action suits under federal and state laws have been filed in recent years against companies who conduct SMS texting or outbound calling programs, with many resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements to the plaintiffs. Federal or state regulatory authorities or private litigants could claim that the notices and disclosures we provide, form of consents we obtain, or our SMS texting or calling practices are not adequate or violate applicable law, resulting in civil claims against us. The scope and interpretation of the laws that apply to the delivery of text messages and/or outbound calling are continuously evolving and developing. If we do not comply with these laws or regulations or if we become liable under these laws or regulations, we could face direct liability, could be required to change some portions of our business model, or could face negative publicity, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected as a result. Even an unsuccessful challenge of our SMS texting or calling practices by our customers, regulatory authorities, or other third parties could result in negative publicity and could require a costly response from and defense by us.
Product recalls and product liability, as well as changes in product safety and other consumer protection laws, may adversely impact our operations, merchandise offerings, reputation, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We are subject to regulations by a variety of federal, state, and international regulatory authorities, including regulations regarding the safety and quality of our products. We purchase merchandise from several hundred different vendors. One or more of our vendors, including manufacturers of our owned or private label brand products, might not adhere to product safety requirements or our quality control standards, and we might not identify the deficiency before merchandise ships to our pet care centers. Any issues of product safety or allegations that our products are in violation of governmental regulations, including, but not limited to, issues involving products
manufactured in foreign countries, could cause those products to be recalled. If our vendors fail to manufacture or import merchandise that adheres to our quality control standards, product safety requirements, or applicable governmental regulations, our reputation and brands could be damaged, potentially leading to decreased sales or increases in customer litigation against us. Further, to the extent we are unable to replace any recalled products, we may have to reduce our merchandise offerings, resulting in a decrease in sales. If our vendors are unable or unwilling to recall products failing to meet our quality standards, we may be required to recall those products at a substantial cost to us. Moreover, changes in product safety or other consumer protection laws could lead to increased costs to us for certain merchandise, or additional labor costs associated with readying merchandise for sale. Long lead times on merchandise ordering cycles increase the difficulty for us to plan and prepare for potential changes to applicable laws. In the event that we are unable to timely comply with regulatory changes or regulators do not believe we are complying with current regulations applicable to us, significant fines or penalties could result, and could adversely affect our reputation, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Failure to establish, maintain, protect, and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights or prevent third parties from making unauthorized use of our technology or our brand could harm our competitive position or require us to incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.
Our trademarks, such as Bond & Co., EveryYay, Good 2 Go, Good Lovin’, Imagitarium, Leaps & Bounds, Petco, Petco Love, Petco Park, Reddy, Ruff & Mews, So Phresh, Vetco, Well & Good, Where the Pets Go, WholeHearted, You & Me, Youly, Vital Care Core, and Vital Care Premier, are valuable assets that support our brand and consumers’ perception of our products. We rely on trademark, copyright, trade secret, patent, and other intellectual property laws, as well as nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements and other methods, to protect our trademarks, trade names, proprietary information, technologies, and processes. We might not be able to obtain broad protection in the United States for all of our intellectual property. The protection of our intellectual property rights may require the expenditure of significant financial, managerial, and operational resources. Moreover, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may not adequately protect our rights or prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our proprietary rights, and we may be unable to broadly enforce all of our trademarks. Any of our patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. Our patent and trademark applications may never be granted. Additionally, the process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may be unable to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. Even if issued, there can be no assurance that these patents will adequately protect our intellectual property, as the legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of patent and other intellectual property rights are uncertain. We also cannot be certain that others will not independently develop or otherwise acquire equivalent or superior technology or intellectual property rights. Further, our nondisclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our proprietary information, technologies, and processes and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of such information, which could harm our competitive position. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited for some of our trademarks and patents in some foreign countries. We might be required to expend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. For example, we may need to engage in litigation or similar activities to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights of others. However, we may be unable to discover or determine the extent of any infringement, misappropriation, or other violation of our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights. Despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating, or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights. Any such litigation, whether or not resolved in our favor, could require us to expend significant resources and divert the efforts and attention of our management and other personnel from our business operations. If we fail to protect our intellectual property, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations, which could result in substantial damages and diversion of management’s efforts and attention.
We have obligations with respect to the non-use and non-disclosure of third-party intellectual property. The steps we take to prevent misappropriation, infringement, or other violations of the intellectual property of others, including in connection with our use of emerging technologies such as AI tools for content and image generation in marketing or other business activities, may not be successful. From time to time, third parties have asserted intellectual property infringement claims against us and are likely to continue to do so in the future. These risks have been amplified by the increase in third parties whose sole or primary business is to assert such claims, as well as
evolving legal and regulatory frameworks governing the use of AI and related technologies. While we believe that our products and operations do not infringe in any material respect upon proprietary rights of other parties and/or that meritorious defenses would exist with respect to any assertions to the contrary, we may from time to time be found to infringe on the proprietary rights of others.
Any claims that our products, services, systems, applications, or marketing materials (including materials created or modified using AI tools) infringe the proprietary rights of third parties, regardless of their merit or resolution, could be costly to investigate, defend and/or settle, result in injunctions against us or payment of damages or licensing fees by us, and may divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. We may not prevail in such proceedings given the complex technical issues, developing legal standards related to AI, and inherent uncertainties in intellectual property litigation. If such proceedings result in an adverse outcome, we could, among other things, be required to:
pay substantial damages (potentially treble damages in the United States);
cease the manufacture, use, distribution, or sale of the infringing products, operations, or services;
discontinue the use of the infringing methods or processes;
expend significant resources to develop non-infringing products, operations, or services or re-brand our business and products; and
obtain a license from the third party claiming infringement, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or may not be available at all, or could result in reduced profitability of the particular product sold that is subject to the license.
If any of the foregoing occurs, our ability to compete in the markets in which we operate could be affected or our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We are party to routine litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business and may become involved in additional litigation, all of which requires time and attention from certain members of management and can result in significant legal expenses.
We are involved in litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, including claims related to federal or state wage and hour laws, working conditions, predictive scheduling regulations, worker classification, securities laws, antitrust laws, product liability, consumer protection, advertising, employment, intellectual property, tort, privacy, data protection, disputes with landlords and vendors, claims from customers or employees alleging failure to maintain safe premises, and other matters. Even if we prevail, litigation is time-consuming and expensive. An unfavorable outcome in one or more of these existing lawsuits, or future litigation to which we become a party, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We are subject to environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations that could result in costs to us.
In connection with the ownership and operations of our pet care centers and distribution centers, we are subject to laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment and health and safety matters, including those governing the management and disposal of wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. We could incur costs, including fines and other sanctions, cleanup costs, and third-party claims, as a result of violations of or liabilities under environmental laws and regulations. Although we are not aware of any of our sites at which we currently have material remedial obligations, the imposition of remedial obligations as a result of the discovery of contaminants in the future could result in additional costs.
Political and social attention to the issue of climate change has resulted in both existing and pending international agreements and national, regional, or local legislation and regulatory measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions, such as cap and trade regimes, carbon taxes, restrictive permitting, increased fuel efficiency standards, and incentives or mandates for renewable energy, as well as legal and regulatory requirements requiring certain climate-related disclosures, and pressure from shareholders, ratings agencies, state agencies, and other third parties to make various climate-related disclosures. We may also be subject to additional and more complex reporting requirements in the future and such requirements may be inconsistent or conflicting. For example, the State of California recently passed the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act that imposes broad climate-related disclosure obligations on companies doing business in California, including us. While certain aspects of the Act are subject to ongoing litigation, others are scheduled to go into effect. Such measures have subjected us, and may subject our vendors, to additional costs and restrictions and require significant operating and capital expenditures, including with respect to waste and energy reduction, compliance costs, and
workforce initiatives, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We may fail to comply with various state or federal regulations covering the dispensing and/or administration of prescription pet medications, including controlled substances, through our veterinary services businesses, which may subject us to reprimands, sanctions, probations, fines, or suspensions.
The sale, delivery, and/or administration of prescription pet medications and controlled substances through our veterinary services businesses are governed by extensive regulation and oversight by federal and state governmental authorities. The laws and regulations governing our operations and interpretations of those laws and regulations are increasing in number and complexity, change frequently, and can be inconsistent or conflicting. In addition, the governmental authorities that regulate our business have broad latitude to make, interpret, and enforce the laws and regulations that govern our operations and continue to interpret and enforce those laws and regulations more strictly and more aggressively each year. In the future, we may be subject to routine administrative complaints incidental to the dispensing and/or administration of prescription pet medications through our veterinary services businesses.
If we are unable to maintain the licenses granted by relevant state authorities in connection with our dispensing of prescription pet medications, or if we become subject to actions by the FDA, the DEA, or other regulators, our dispensing of prescription medications to pet parents could cease and we may be subject to reprimands, sanctions, probations, fines, or suspensions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our initiatives related to sustainability, and our public statements and disclosures regarding them, expose us to numerous risks.
We have developed goals, and other initiatives related to sustainability matters. These statements reflect our current plans and do not constitute a guarantee that they will be achieved. Our efforts to research, establish, accomplish, and accurately report on these goals and initiatives expose us to numerous operational, reputational, financial, legal, and other risks. Our ability to achieve any stated goal or initiative is subject to numerous factors and conditions, many of which are outside of our control. Examples of such factors include evolving regulatory requirements affecting sustainability standards or disclosures or imposing different requirements, evolving disclosure standards and/or policies established by regulators and standards organizations, stockholders, ratings agencies, and proxy advisory firms, the pace of changes in technology, the availability of requisite financing, and the availability of suppliers that can meet sustainability and other standards. Furthermore, methodologies for reporting sustainability information may be updated and previously reported information may be adjusted to reflect improvement in the availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations, and other changes in circumstances. Our processes and controls for reporting sustainability information across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting sustainability metrics, including sustainability-related disclosures that may be required by certain regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals or reported progress in achieving such goals, or adversely impact our ability to achieve such goals in the future.
Our business may face increased scrutiny from regulators, the investment community, other stakeholders, and the media related to our sustainability activities and positions. If our sustainability activities and positions do not meet the expectations and standards of regulators, investors, or other stakeholders, which continue to evolve and may conflict with one another, our reputation, our ability to attract or retain employees and customers, and our attractiveness as an investment, business partner, or as an acquiror could be negatively impacted. Similarly, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our targets and initiatives, to comply with environmental regulations, or to satisfy various reporting standards with respect to these matters, within required timelines or those which we announce, or at all, could have the same negative impacts, as well as expose us to federal and state government enforcement actions and private litigation. Additionally, we could become the target of litigation, investigations or other proceedings initiated by government authorities or private actors alleging that our activities related to sustainability and societal matters are anti-competitive, discriminatory or otherwise unlawful. Furthermore, positions
we take or do not take on social issues may be unpopular with some of our customers, partners, advocacy groups, or other stakeholders in the communities in which we operate, which may lead to adverse effects on our business.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our cash flows and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under existing debt agreements.
At January 31, 2026, we had outstanding a (i) $1,500.0 million secured term loan facility maturing on March 4, 2028 (the “First Lien Term Loan”) governed by the Term Loan Credit Agreement and (ii) secured asset-based revolving credit facility providing for senior secured financing of up to $581.0 million, consisting of two tranches with the first tranche having availability of up to $35.0 million, subject to a borrowing base, maturing on March 4, 2026, and the second tranche having availability of up to $546.0 million, subject to a borrowing base, maturing on March 29, 2029 (the “ABL Revolving Credit Facility” governed by the ABL Credit Agreement). Our substantial indebtedness could restrict our operations and could have important consequences. For example, it could:
make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our existing indebtedness;
increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital and capital expenditures, and for other general corporate purposes;
limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and industry, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt;
restrict us from making strategic acquisitions or other investments or cause us to make non-strategic divestitures; and
limit, along with the financial and other restrictive covenants in the documents governing our indebtedness, among other things, our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital and capital expenditures, and for other general corporate purposes.
On February 2, 2026, we entered into an amendment to the Term Loan Credit Agreement and issued $600.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 8.250% Senior Secured Notes due February 1, 2031 (the “Senior Secured Notes”) and under the Indenture. Following the amendment, $900.0 million of principal remained on the Amended First Lien Term Loan, maturing on February 2, 2031.
Please read “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for descriptions of the First Lien Term Loan and ABL Revolving Credit Facility.
The agreements governing our indebtedness include restrictive covenants that limit our operating flexibility, which could harm our long-term interests.
The Indenture, the Term Loan Credit Agreement, and the ABL Credit Agreement all impose material restrictions on us. These restrictions, subject in certain cases to ordinary course of business and other exceptions, may limit our ability to engage in some transactions, including the following:
incurring additional debt;
paying dividends, redeeming capital stock, or making other restricted payments or investments;
selling assets, properties, or licenses;
creating liens on assets;
entering into sale and lease-back transactions;
undergoing a change in control;
merging, consolidating, or disposing of substantially all assets;
entering into new lines of business;
entering into transactions with affiliates; and
placing restrictions on the ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments.
Any of these restrictions on our ability to operate our business in our discretion could adversely affect our business by, among other things, limiting our ability to adapt to changing economic, financial, or industry conditions and to take advantage of corporate opportunities, including opportunities to obtain debt financing, repurchase stock, refinance or pay principal on our outstanding debt, or complete acquisitions for cash or debt.
Any future debt that we incur may contain financial maintenance covenants. In addition, the ABL Credit Agreement contains financial maintenance covenants that are triggered by certain conditions. Events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial, and industry conditions, could affect our ability to satisfy these financial maintenance covenants, and we cannot assure you that we will satisfy them.
Any failure to comply with the restrictions of the Indenture, the Term Loan Credit Agreement, the ABL Credit Agreement, and any subsequent financing agreements, including as a result of events beyond our control, may result in an event of default under these agreements, which in turn may result in defaults or acceleration of obligations under these agreements and other agreements, giving our lenders and other debt holders the right to terminate any commitments they may have made to provide us with further funds and to require us to repay all amounts then outstanding. Our assets and cash flow may not be sufficient to fully repay obligations existing under our outstanding debt instruments. In addition, we may not be able to refinance or restructure the payments on the applicable debt. Even if we were able to secure additional financing, it may not be available on favorable terms.
Despite current indebtedness levels, we may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. This could further increase the risks associated with our substantial leverage.
We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, which would increase our debt service obligations and could further reduce the cash available to invest in operations. The terms of the Indenture, the Term Loan Credit Agreement, and the ABL Credit Agreement allow us and our subsidiaries to incur additional indebtedness, subject to limitations. As of January 31, 2026, we and our subsidiaries had an additional $467.5 million of unused commitments available to be borrowed under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility. This amount is net of $58.4 million of outstanding letters of credit issued in the normal course of business and a $55.1 million borrowing base reduction for a shortfall in qualifying assets, net of reserves. If new debt is added to our debt levels, or any debt is incurred by our subsidiaries, the related risks that we and our subsidiaries now face could increase.
To service our indebtedness, we require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate or access cash depends on many factors beyond our control.
Our ability to make payments on and refinance our indebtedness, and to fund planned capital expenditures, depends on our ability to generate or access cash in the future. This ability is subject to general economic, financial (including prevailing interest rates), competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond our control.
We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flows from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. Further, we cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness, including the Senior Secured Notes, the First Lien Term Loan, and the ABL Revolving Credit Facility, on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
Our failure to comply with the covenants contained in the Indenture, Term Loan Credit Agreement and ABL Credit Agreement, including as a result of events beyond our control, could result in an event of default that could cause repayment of our debt to be accelerated.
If we are not able to comply with the covenants and other requirements contained in the Indenture, the Term Loan Credit Agreement and the ABL Credit Agreement, or any other debt instruments, an event of default under the relevant debt instrument could occur. In addition to imposing restrictions on our business and operations, some of our debt instruments include covenants relating to financial ratios and tests. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial, and industry
conditions. The breach of any of these covenants would result in a default under these instruments. If an event of default does occur under one of these agreements, it could trigger a default under our other debt instruments, prohibit us from accessing additional borrowings, and permit the holders of the defaulted debt to declare amounts outstanding with respect to that debt to be immediately due and payable. Our assets and cash flows may not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments. In addition, we may not be able to refinance or restructure the payments on the applicable debt. Even if we were able to secure additional financing, it may not be available on favorable terms.
The amount of borrowings permitted under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility may fluctuate significantly, which may adversely affect our liquidity, results of operations, and financial position.
The amount of borrowings permitted at any one time under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility is subject to a borrowing base valuation of the collateral thereunder, net of certain reserves. As a result, our access to credit under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility is potentially subject to significant fluctuations depending on the value of the borrowing base of eligible assets as of any measurement date, as well as certain discretionary rights of the agents in respect of the calculation of such borrowing base value. The inability to borrow under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility may adversely affect our liquidity, results of operations, and financial position.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which has caused, and may continue to cause, our indebtedness service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under the First Lien Term Loan and ABL Revolving Credit Facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Due to elevated interest rates, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness have increased even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, have correspondingly decreased. If interest rates continue to rise in the future, our liquidity, results of operations, and financial position may be further adversely affected. Although we have entered into agreements capping portions of our exposure to higher interest rates, these agreements may not prove to be effective in the aggregate, as a significant portion of our variable rate debt remains uncapped.
We will need to repay or refinance borrowings under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility prior to maturity of the First Lien Term Loan and Senior Secured Notes. Failure to do so could have a material adverse effect upon us.
Prior to the maturity of the Senior Secured Notes and the First Lien Term Loan, we will need to repay, refinance, replace, or otherwise extend the maturity of the ABL Revolving Credit Facility. Our ability to repay, refinance, replace, or extend will be dependent on, among other things, business conditions, our financial performance, and the general condition of the financial markets. If a financial disruption were to occur at the time that we are required to repay indebtedness outstanding under the ABL Revolving Credit Facility, we could be forced to undertake alternate financings, negotiate for an extension of the maturity of the ABL Revolving Credit Facility, or sell assets and delay capital expenditures in order to generate proceeds that could be used to repay such indebtedness. We cannot assure you that we will be able to consummate any such transaction on terms that are commercially reasonable, on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Our failure to repay, refinance, replace, or otherwise extend the maturity of the ABL Revolving Credit Facility could result in an event of default under the Indenture, the Term Loan Credit Agreement and ABL Credit Agreement, which could lead to an acceleration or repayment of substantially all of our outstanding indebtedness.
Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock
Our Sponsors have significant influence over us, including control over decisions that require the approval of stockholders, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of matters submitted to stockholders for a vote.
We are currently controlled by our Sponsors through our Principal Stockholder. Our Principal Stockholder currently controls approximately 65% of the outstanding voting power of our company. As long as our Sponsors beneficially own or control at least a majority of our outstanding voting power, they have the ability to exercise substantial control over all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, irrespective of how our other stockholders may vote, including the election and removal of directors and the size of our board of directors, any amendment of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or the approval of any merger or other significant corporate
transaction, including a sale of substantially all of our assets. They also have certain rights under the stockholders’ agreement with us. Therefore, even if their ownership falls below 50%, our Sponsors will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions.
Additionally, our Sponsors’ interests may not align with the interests of our other stockholders. Our Sponsors and other investment funds affiliated with them are in the business of making investments in companies and may acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. Our Sponsors and other investment funds affiliated with them may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. Accordingly, the holders of our Class A common stock do not have the same protections as those afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such governance requirements.
Our Sponsors, through our Principal Stockholder, control a majority of the voting power of our common stock with respect to director elections. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power with respect to director elections is held by an individual, group, or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including:
the requirement that a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors;
the requirement that our nominating and corporate governance committee be composed entirely of independent directors; and
the requirement that our compensation committee be composed entirely of independent directors.
We currently utilize all of these exemptions. As a result, we do not have a majority of independent directors serving on our board of directors and neither our compensation committee nor our nominating and corporate governance committee consist entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, you do not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.
Certain of our directors have relationships with our Sponsors, which may cause conflicts of interest with respect to our business.
Four of our ten directors are affiliated with our Sponsors, and our Sponsors have a right to designate a majority of our directors under the stockholders’ agreement we have with them. These directors have fiduciary duties to us and, in addition, have duties to the applicable Sponsor or stockholder affiliate. As a result, these directors may face real or apparent conflicts of interest with respect to matters affecting both us and the affiliated Sponsors, whose interests may be adverse to ours in some circumstances. In addition, we waived certain of these duties to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law pursuant to the corporate opportunity waiver included in our certificate of incorporation.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management, and may adversely affect the market price of our stock.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws include provisions that:
provide that, except with regard to directors nominated by our Principal Stockholder, vacancies on our board of directors shall be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director;
establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;
provide that our directors can be removed for cause only, once our Principal Stockholder (including its permitted transferees under the stockholder’s agreement with our Principal Stockholder (the
“stockholder’s agreement”)) no longer beneficially owns 50% or more of our outstanding Class A common stock and Class B-1 common stock;
provide that, once our Principal Stockholder (including its permitted transferees under the stockholder’s agreement) no longer beneficially owns 50% or more of our outstanding Class A common stock and Class B-1 common stock, any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing in lieu of a meeting of such stockholders;
specify that, once our Principal Stockholder (including its permitted transferees under the stockholder’s agreement) no longer beneficially owns 50% or more of our outstanding Class A common stock and Class B-1 common stock, special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors, or the Chairman of our board of directors (prior to such time, special meetings of the stockholders of our company shall be called by the Chairman of our board of directors or our Secretary at the request of our Principal Stockholder, in addition to being able to be called by the Chairman of our board of directors and by our board of directors);
require the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of all outstanding stock entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, to amend or repeal our bylaws and certain articles of our certificate of incorporation once our Principal Stockholder (including its permitted transferees under the stockholder’s agreement) ceases to beneficially own at least 50% of the Class A common stock and Class B-1 common stock;
establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;
authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, shares of undesignated preferred stock; and
reflect three classes of common stock.
These and other provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, we are a Delaware corporation governed by the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). In general, Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law, prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock, which person or group is considered an interested stockholder under the DGCL, for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. We have elected in our certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203. However, our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same effect as Section 203, except that they provide our Sponsors, our Principal Stockholder, their affiliates, and their respective successors (other than our company), as well as their direct and indirect transferees, are not deemed to be “interested stockholders,” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to such restrictions. For additional details, please read Exhibit 4.3 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Since we have no current plans to pay regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Class A common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
We have not paid, and do not anticipate paying, any regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our financial condition, results of operations, cash requirements, contractual restrictions, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is, and may be, limited by covenants of existing and any future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur, including under the Amended First Lien Term Loan and ABL Revolving Credit Facility, as well as by the terms of our stockholder’s agreement. Therefore, any return on investment in our Class A common stock is solely dependent upon the appreciation of the price of our Class A common stock on the open market, which may not occur. Please read “Dividend Policy” for more detail.
We are a holding company with nominal net worth and will depend on dividends and distributions from our subsidiaries to pay any dividends.
Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. and certain of our subsidiaries are holding companies with nominal net worth. We do not have any material assets or conduct any business operations other than our investments in our subsidiaries. Our business operations are conducted primarily out of our indirect operating subsidiary, Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries. As a result, in addition to the restrictions on payment of dividends that apply under the terms of our existing indebtedness, our ability to pay dividends, if any, will be dependent upon cash dividends and distributions or other transfers from our subsidiaries. Payments to us by our subsidiaries will be contingent upon their respective earnings and subject to any limitations on the ability of such entities to make payments or other distributions to us.
The multi-class structure of our common stock may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock.
In July 2017, S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell announced changes to their eligibility criteria for the inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the Russell 2000, the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock from being added to these indices. Although S&P Dow Jones has since revised its eligibility criteria to again permit companies with multiple classes of common stock to be added to its indices, including the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the S&P SmallCap 600, there can be no assurances that such companies will remain eligible. As a result, our multi-class capital structure makes us ineligible for inclusion from certain indices, and mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track these indices will not be investing in our stock. Further, we cannot assure you that other stock indices will not take a similar approach to FTSE Russell in the future. Exclusion from indices could make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors and, as a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, and the federal district courts as the exclusive forum for Securities Act claims, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain what such stockholders believe to be a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, other employees, or agents.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we, in writing, select or consent to the selection of an alternative forum, all complaints asserting any internal corporate claims (defined as claims, including claims in the right of our company: (i) that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director, officer, employee, or stockholder in such capacity; or (ii) as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery), to the fullest extent permitted by law, and subject to applicable jurisdictional requirements, shall be made in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have, or declines to accept, subject matter jurisdiction, another state court or a federal court located within the State of Delaware). Further, unless we select or consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Our choice-of-forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in our common stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum selection provisions described in our certificate of incorporation. These choice-of-forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. It is possible that a court may find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, in which case we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
A ratings downgrade or other negative action by a ratings organization could adversely affect the trading price of the shares of our Class A common stock.
Credit rating agencies continually revise their ratings for companies they follow, and we have faced, and may continue to face, downgrades from credit rating agencies. The condition of the financial and credit markets and
prevailing interest rates have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate in the future. In addition, developments in our business and operations, including with respect to sustainability matters, could lead to further ratings downgrades for us or our subsidiaries. Any fluctuation in the rating of us or our subsidiaries may impact our ability to access debt markets in the future or increase our cost of future debt, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition and may adversely affect the trading price of shares of our Class A common stock.
General Risk Factors
Our operating results and share price may be volatile, and the market price of our Class A common stock may drop.
Our quarterly operating results are likely to fluctuate in the future. In addition, securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market, or political conditions, has, and could continue to, subject the market price of our shares to wide price fluctuations regardless of our operating performance. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price that you paid for them, or at all. Our operating results and the trading price of our shares may fluctuate in response to various factors, including:
market conditions in the broader stock market;
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial and operating results;
introduction of new products or services by us or our competitors;
issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
changes in debt ratings;
results of operations that vary from expectations of securities analysts and investors;
guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance or our failure to meet this guidance;
strategic actions by us or our competitors;
announcements by us, our competitors, or our vendors of significant contracts or acquisitions;
sales, or anticipated sales, of large blocks of our stock;
additions or departures of key personnel;
regulatory, legal, or political developments;
public response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;
litigation and governmental investigations;
changing economic and geopolitical conditions, including interest rates, tariffs, financial market uncertainty, and government shutdowns;
changes in accounting principles;
default under agreements governing our indebtedness; and
other events or factors, including those from severe weather events, natural disasters, pandemic, pet disease, war, acts of terrorism, or responses to these events.
These and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, may cause our operating results and the market price and demand for our shares to fluctuate substantially. While we believe that operating results for any particular quarter are not necessarily a meaningful indication of future results, fluctuations in our quarterly operating results could limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares and may otherwise negatively affect the market price and liquidity of our shares. In addition, in the past, a securities class action litigation has been brought against the Company in connection with the volatility of our stock price. If any of our stockholders brought a similar
lawsuit against us in the future, we could incur substantial costs defending and/or settling the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.
Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of capital stock, which could reduce your influence over matters on which stockholders vote.
Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of our stockholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock, including shares issuable upon the exercise of options, or shares of our authorized but unissued preferred stock. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, would likely result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock. Moreover, the ability of holders of Class B-1 common stock to convert each of their shares into one share of Class A common stock, subject to the transfer to us of an equivalent number of shares of Class B-2 common stock, may increase the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock; however, such conversion rights will not dilute or otherwise affect the voting rights of the holders of Class A common stock because Class B-1 common stock and Class B-2 common stock taken on a combined basis will have the same voting rights as Class A common stock.
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the market, which could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Class A common stock. We have also filed Forms S-8 under the Securities Act to register all shares of Class A common stock that we may issue under our equity compensation plans. In addition, our Principal Stockholder has demand registration rights that will require us to file registration statements in connection with future sales of our stock by our Principal Stockholder. Sales by our Principal Stockholder could be significant. Once we register these shares, they can be freely resold in the public market, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, such as lock-up agreements. As restrictions on resale end, the market price of our stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.
If securities or industry analysts adversely change their recommendations regarding our shares, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our shares is influenced in part by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of, or insufficiently cover, our company, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our share price could decline.
If our operating and financial performance in any given period does not meet the guidance that we have provided to the public or the expectations of our investors and analysts, our Class A common stock price may decline.
We have been, and anticipate to continue, providing guidance on our expected operating and financial results for future periods. Although we believe that this guidance will provide investors and analysts with a better understanding of management’s expectations for the future and is useful to our current and potential stockholders, such guidance comprises forward-looking statements subject to the risks and uncertainties described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other public filings and public statements. Our actual results may not always be in line with or exceed the guidance we have provided or the expectations of our investors and analysts, especially in times of economic uncertainty. If, in the future, our operating or financial results for a particular period do not meet our guidance or the expectations of our investors and analysts, or if we reduce our guidance for future periods, our share price could decline.
If our internal control over financial reporting or our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud, or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and may lead to a decline in our stock price.
As a public company, we are required to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls, and procedures. In particular, we must perform system and process evaluation, document our controls and perform testing of our key control over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Additionally, our independent public accounting firm also is required to issue an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our testing, or the testing by our independent public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner, or if we or our accounting firm identifies deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses, the market price of our Class A common stock would likely decline and we could be subject to lawsuits, sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources. Moreover, any material weaknesses could result in a material misstatement of our annual or quarterly consolidated financial statements or disclosures that may not be prevented or detected.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to taxes by the U.S. federal, state, and local tax authorities, and our tax liabilities will be affected by the allocation of expenses to differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
tax effects of stock-based compensation; or
changes in tax laws, regulations, or interpretations thereof.
From time to time, U.S. tax authorities, including state and local governments, consider legislation that, if enacted, could have a material effect on our effective tax rate.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales, and other transaction taxes by U.S. federal, state, and local taxing authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Additional impairments of the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our goodwill and other intangible assets represent a significant portion of our total assets. We test our goodwill and our indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indication of impairment exists. Factors indicating impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets may include, among others: a significant decline in our expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in our stock price and market capitalization; changes in the macroeconomic environment, increases in interest rates, a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated or changing competition; and reduced growth rates. There are inherent uncertainties in management’s estimates, judgments, and assumptions used in the impairment evaluation process. To the extent that business conditions deteriorate or there are any material changes in key assumptions and estimates, it may be necessary to record additional impairment charges in the future which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
For example, during the third quarter of fiscal 2023, we concluded indicators of impairment existed due to declines in the Company's share price as well as macroeconomic conditions, and performed an interim impairment
test of our goodwill and indefinite-lived trade name, which resulted in a pre-tax goodwill impairment charge of $1,222.5 million for the thirteen week period ended October 28, 2023. For further information on our evaluation of impairment of our goodwill and indefinite-lived trade name, please read the discussion under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations– Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
