Chewy (CHWY) 10-K2022 FY Annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

(Mark One)

You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events, and you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K primarily on our current assumptions, expectations, and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” included under Part I, Item 1A below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. While we believe that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments.

Investors and others should note that we may announce material information to our investors using our investor relations website (https://investor.chewy.com/), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels, as well as social media, to communicate with our investors and the public about our company, our business and other issues. It is possible that the information that we post on these channels could be deemed to be material information. We therefore encourage investors to visit these websites from time to time. The information contained on such websites and social media posts is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs in this filing are intended to be inactive textual references only.

Market, Ranking and Other Industry Data

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we refer to information regarding market data obtained from internal sources, market research, publicly available information, and industry publications. Estimates are inherently uncertain, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included under Part I, Item 1A below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe that these sources and estimates are reliable as of the date of this report but have not independently verified them and cannot guarantee their accuracy or completeness.

Item 1. Business

Overview

Our mission is to be the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents and partners everywhere. We believe that we are the preeminent online source for pet products, supplies and prescriptions as a result of our broad selection of high-quality products and services, which we offer at competitive prices and deliver with an exceptional level of care and a personal touch to build brand loyalty and drive repeat purchasing. We seek to continually develop innovative ways for our customers to engage with us, as our website and mobile app allow our pet parents to manage their pets’ health, wellness, and merchandise needs, while enabling them to conveniently shop for our products. We partner with more than 3,500 of the best and most trusted brands in the pet industry offering more than 110,000 products and services offerings, to bring what we believe is a high-bar, customer-centric experience to our customers. By leveraging our extensive infrastructure of our supply chain consisting of seventeen fulfillment centers, we are typically able to offer our products in a localized manner with the capability to serve over 80% of the U.S. population overnight and almost 100% in two days.

Our Industry

We operate in a large and growing industry in the U.S., which consists of pet food and treats, pet supplies and pet medications, other pet-health products, and pet services.

“Pet humanization” and premiumization driving higher spending per pet

Pet parents increasingly view pets as part of the family and are willing to spend more on higher-quality goods and services for those family members. According to research conducted by Packaged Facts, 94% of dog or cat owners considered their pets to be a part of their family. Amongst dog owners, 90% agree that pets are central to their home life, with 87% of cat owners and 85% of other pet owners being in agreement. Furthermore, according to Packaged Facts, 89% of pet owners agreed that they look for products to improve their pets’ health and wellness, with 61% willing to pay more for food customized for their pet’s specific dietary needs.

Historical and projected growth in pet spending

According to Packaged Facts, spending on the U.S. pet market has grown from $82 billion in 2016 to an estimated $138 billion in 2022, or at a 9.1% compounded annual growth rate (“CAGR”) over that time. Packaged Facts projects the U.S. pet market to grow at a CAGR of over 6.9% from 2022 through 2026, with retail pet food and treats projected to grow at a CAGR of over 6.5% over that time.

Consistency of spending and resilience during economic downturns

Spending on pets is a necessity and most customers purchase frequently and at regular intervals. The pet industry is one of the most resilient categories during economic downturns because of the nature of the pet parent/pet relationship. For example, during the recession from 2008 to 2010, overall consumer spending in the U.S. declined while pet spending in the U.S. increased by 12%, according to the American Pet Products Association (the “APPA”). In 2010 alone, spending in the U.S. on entertainment decreased by 7.0%, food decreased by 3.8%, housing decreased by 2.0% and apparel and services decreased by 1.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while spending on pets increased by 6.2%, according to the APPA.

Similar to the resiliency shown during the 2008 to 2010 recession, the pet industry experienced a significant increase in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic despite the overall economic downturn, particularly within the e-commerce channel. Pet adoptions and fostering surged with “stay-at-home” orders further increasing demand and the continued humanization of pets. According to Packaged Facts, only 5% of dog and cat owners agreed that they were spending less on pet food as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn. Further, 34% of these individuals indicated a significant shift in “where or how” they bought pet products in 2020, which has resulted in a reduction in brick-and-mortar shopping and an increase in online shopping.

According to Packaged Facts, 68% of consumers have been cutting back on household expenses in the last 12 months due to price inflation, economic uncertainty, or other factors. However, only 15% of consumers cutting back are doing so in pet care and human medical care categories.

Rapid shift to online shopping, with significant remaining opportunity

The pet industry, like many other industries in the U.S., is experiencing a continued shift from in-store to online purchases and it appears that this migration has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with tailwinds expected to continue for several years. In 2019, e-commerce claimed the top spot of pet food sales by channel and online shopping continues to take market share from brick-and-mortar retail. Packaged Facts reports that online shopping grew from 16% of U.S. retail pet product sales in 2017 to an estimated 38% in 2022 with over $21 billion of pet food and treats sold online. This represents an over 32% CAGR for online pet retail over that time frame. Packaged Facts estimates the e-commerce channel to rapidly increase to 48% of total retail channel pet product sales by 2026, while all other channels are projected to decline. This shift to e-commerce nearly doubles estimates of 25% channel share in 2019, pre-COVID. In fact, the share of pet-owning households who buy pet food online nearly tripled from 16% in the Fall 2019 tracking period to 48% as of Summer 2022, according to MRI-Simmons data cited by Packaged Facts. We believe that the secular trend toward online shopping will continue for a significant period as consumers look to benefit from the convenience of home delivery and subscription-based purchasing, and the heightened safety of a “contactless” shopping experience.

Our Strengths

Our Strategy

We serve customers through our website and mobile applications and focus on delivering the best products with the best service at competitive prices. We operate customer service centers 24/7 to serve our customers every single day of the year.

Competition

The pet products and services industry is highly competitive and can be organized into the following categories: internet (including online sales by omnichannel players); pet specialty stores; mass merchandisers/discount stores/supercenters; food stores; wholesale clubs; farm/feed stores; independent pet channel; dollar stores; drug stores; natural food; and veterinary.

Competition in the pet products and services industry is strong, particularly within the e-commerce channel as the industry continues to experience a secular shift from in-store to online shopping. We face competition from the websites of our competitors such as other online retailers, online sales for omnichannel retailers, our suppliers’ own websites, and traditional brick and mortar retailers as well as those in the veterinary channel. Some of the principal competitive factors influencing our business are price, product selection and availability, fast and reliable delivery, and customer service. We believe our ability to provide a seamless shopping experience, fast and reliable delivery options, including our convenient Autoship subscription program, and our knowledgeable customer service sets us apart from our competitors.

Trademarks and Intellectual Property

Our rights in our intellectual property, including trademarks, patents, trade secrets, copyrights and domain names, as well as contractual provisions and restrictions on use of our intellectual property, are important to our business. For example, our trademark rights assist in our marketing efforts to develop brand recognition and differentiate our brands from our competitors. We own a number of trademark registrations and applications in the U.S. and in certain foreign jurisdictions. These trademarks include, among others, “American Journey,” “Blue Box Event,” “Careplus,” “Chewy,” “Chewy.com,” “Dr. Lyon’s,” “Frisco,” “Goody Box,” “Onguard,” “PetMD,” “Practice Hub,” “Tiny Tiger,” “True Acre Farms,” “Tylee’s,” and “Vibeful.” 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 and services. We expect to pursue additional trademark registrations to the extent we believe they would be beneficial to protecting our rights.

We also own numerous domain names in connection with our business, including www.chewy.com. We also enter into, and rely on, confidentiality, proprietary rights, and other agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors, agents, and business partners to secure our ownership and protect our intellectual property, trade secrets, proprietary technology and other confidential information. We further control the use of our proprietary technology and ownership of our intellectual property through provisions in both our customer terms of use and in our vendor terms and conditions. Further, we enter into agreements that include provisions that protect our intellectual property with manufacturers to develop and market pet products in connection with our private brands.

We believe that our intellectual property has substantial value and has significantly contributed to our success to date.

Seasonality

Seasonality in our business does not follow that of traditional retailers, such as typically high concentration of revenue in the holiday quarter. Our net sales tend to grow throughout the fiscal year as we continue to acquire additional new customers and they continue to purchase from us. We recognized 24%, 24%, 25%, and 27% of our annual net sales during the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2022, respectively.

Our employees are critical to us fulfilling our mission of being the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents and partners everywhere. We accomplish this, in part, by recruiting, hiring, training, and motivating employees who share our core values of delivering superior customer service and caring about the needs of pets and their parents. To continue our mission, and to compete and succeed in our highly competitive and rapidly evolving market, it is crucial that we continue to attract, develop, engage, and retain well-qualified employees. We face significant competition for employees, which has increased as a result of constrained labor markets. We strive to offer competitive compensation and benefits, focus on employee safety, share opportunities for positive societal impact through participation in philanthropic endeavors, and foster a workplace that is reflective of our society and where everyone feels empowered to do their best work.

We employed approximately 19,400 full-time and part-time employees as of January 29, 2023. Additionally, we use independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement our workforce, primarily to support our corporate operations and information technology staff. As of March 15, 2023, none of our employees were represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We provide our employees with support resources and programs that advance employee engagement, communication, and feedback, such as an annual engagement survey and quarterly pulse surveys, which we use to assess and improve our practices and policies. We also invest in the education, training, and development of employees by providing learning opportunities through various courses and programs and our internal custom learning platform, Chewy University.

Available Information

Our website address is www.chewy.com, and our investor relations website is investor.chewy.com. We promptly make available on our investor relations website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics) 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding Chewy and other issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

Summary Risk Factors

We have experienced significant growth in recent periods. This rate of growth may not be sustainable or indicative of our future rate of growth. We believe that our continued growth in net sales will depend upon, among other factors, our ability to:

Our ability to improve margins and maintain profitability will also depend on the factors described above. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to successfully manage any of the foregoing challenges to our future growth. Any of these factors could cause our net sales growth to decline and may adversely affect our margins and profitability. We have also benefited from increasing pet ownership and discretionary spending on pets. To the extent these trends slow or reverse, our net sales, margins and profitability could be adversely affected. Failure to continue our net sales growth or improve margins could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. You should not rely on our historical rate of net sales growth as an indication of our future performance.

If we fail to acquire and retain new customers, or fail to do so in a cost-effective manner, we may be unable to increase net sales, improve margins and maintain profitability.

Our success depends on our ability to acquire and retain new customers and to do so in a cost-effective manner. In order to expand our customer base, we must acquire customers who have historically purchased their pet products and services from other retailers, such as traditional brick and mortar retailers, the websites of our competitors, or our suppliers’ own websites. We have made significant investments related to customer acquisition and expect to continue to spend significant amounts to acquire additional customers. We cannot assure you that the net sales from the new customers we acquire will ultimately exceed the cost of acquiring those customers. If we fail to deliver a quality shopping experience, or if consumers do not perceive the products we offer to be of high value and quality, we may be unable to acquire or retain customers. If we are unable to acquire or retain customers who purchase products in volumes sufficient to grow our business, we may be unable to generate the scale necessary to achieve operational efficiency and drive beneficial network effects with our suppliers. Consequently, our prices may increase (or may not decrease to levels sufficient to generate customer interest), our net sales may decrease and our margins and profitability may decline or not improve. As a result, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We believe that many of our new customers originate from word-of-mouth and other non-paid referrals from our customers. Therefore, we must ensure that our customers remain loyal to us in order to continue receiving those referrals. If our efforts to satisfy our customers are not successful, we may be unable to acquire new customers in sufficient numbers to continue to grow our business, and we may be required to incur significantly higher marketing expenses in order to acquire new customers.

We also use paid and non-paid advertising. Our paid advertising includes search engine marketing, direct mail, display, television, radio and magazine advertising, paid social media and product placement. Our non-paid advertising efforts include search engine optimization, non-paid social media and e-mail marketing. We rely on search engines to drive a significant amount of traffic to our website. Search engines frequently update and change the logic that determines the placement and display of results of a user’s search, such that the purchased or algorithmic placement of links to our website can be negatively affected. Moreover, a search engine could, for competitive or other purposes, alter its search algorithms or results, causing our website to place lower in search query results.

We also drive a significant amount of traffic to our website via social networking or other e-commerce channels used by our current and prospective customers. As social networking and e-commerce channels continue to rapidly evolve, we may be unable to develop or maintain a presence within these channels. If we are unable to cost-effectively drive traffic to our website, our ability to acquire new customers and our financial condition would be materially and adversely affected. Additionally, if we fail to increase our net sales per active customer, generate repeat purchases or maintain high levels of customer engagement, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

To manage our growth effectively, we must continue to implement our operational plans and strategies, improve and expand our infrastructure of people and information systems and expand, train and manage our employee base. To support our continued growth, we must effectively integrate, develop and motivate our employees. We face significant competition for personnel in the areas where our corporate offices are located, and certain other areas in which we have operations. Failure to manage our hiring needs effectively or successfully integrate our new hires may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, the growth of our business places significant demands on our management and other employees. We are required to manage relationships with a growing number of suppliers, customers and other third parties. Our information technology systems, supply chain operations, and our internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support future growth of our customer or supplier base. If we are unable to manage the growth of our organization effectively, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

The growth of our business depends 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 meet the requirements of our customers and the needs of their pets by successfully introducing new products and services, including our private brand products, improving and repositioning our existing products and services, and expanding into new offerings. This, in turn, depends on our ability to predict and respond to evolving consumer trends, demands and preferences. The development and introduction of innovative new products and services and expansion into new offerings involves considerable costs. In addition, it may be difficult to establish new supplier or partner relationships and determine appropriate product selection when developing a new product, service or offering. 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 may reduce our operating income. In addition, any such unsuccessful effort may adversely affect our brand and reputation. If we are unable to anticipate, identify, develop or market products, services or new offerings, that respond to changes in consumer requirements and preferences, or if our new product or service introductions, repositioned products or services, or new offerings fail to gain consumer acceptance, we may be unable to grow our business as anticipated, our sales may decline and our margins and profitability may decline or not improve. As a result, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, while we plan to continue to invest in the development of our business, including in the expansion of our offerings of private brand and healthcare products and services, we may be unable to maintain or expand our sales, respond timely to changes in regulations or enter into strategic relationships with market-leading suppliers and other market participants. We may encounter certain challenges in manufacturing our private brand products, including the loss of key suppliers and product recalls. Maintaining consistent product quality, competitive pricing, and availability of our private brand and healthcare products and services for our customers is essential to developing and maintaining customer loyalty and brand awareness. Our private brand products generally provide us with higher gross margins than the comparable third-party brand products that we sell. Accordingly, our inability to sustain the growth and sales of our private brand offerings may materially and adversely affect our projected growth rates, business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our continued success is largely dependent on positive perceptions of our company.

We believe that one of the reasons our customers prefer to shop at Chewy is the reputation we have built for providing an exceptional customer experience. 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 may erode trust and confidence and have adverse effects on our business and financial results, particularly if they result in adverse publicity or widespread reaction on social media, governmental investigations, or litigation. Our brand could be adversely affected if our public image or reputation were to be tarnished by negative publicity. Failure to comply or accusations of failure to comply with ethical, social, product, labor, data privacy, and environmental standards could also jeopardize our reputation and potentially lead to various adverse consumer actions. Any of these events could adversely affect our business. Additionally, there is an increasing focus from regulators, investors, and other stakeholders on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) matters. To the extent our products and services create ESG-related concerns, our reputation may be harmed.

We have a history of losses and may generate operating losses as we continue to expand our business.

We have a history of losses and may continue to generate operating losses in the near-term as we increase investment in our business. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to predict our future results of operations. We expect our operating expenses to increase over the next several years as we increase our advertising and marketing, launch new fulfillment centers, expand our offerings, hire additional personnel and continue to develop features on our website and mobile applications. Our operating expenses may also be adversely impacted by increased costs and delays in launching new fulfillment centers and expanding fulfillment center capacity as a result of macroeconomic impacts. If our future growth and operating performance fail to meet investor or analyst expectations, or if we have future negative cash flow or losses resulting from our investment in acquiring new customers, our financial condition and stock price could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be unable to accurately forecast net sales and appropriately plan our expenses in the future.

Net sales and results of operations are difficult to forecast because they generally depend on the volume, timing and type of orders we receive, all of which are uncertain. We base our expense levels and investment plans on our estimates of net sales and gross margins. We cannot be sure the same growth rates, trends, and other key performance metrics are meaningful predictors of future growth. If our assumptions prove to be wrong, we may spend more than we anticipate acquiring and retaining customers or may generate lower net sales per active customer than anticipated, either of which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our estimate of the size of our addressable market may prove to be inaccurate.

Data for retail sales of pet products is collected for most, but not all channels, and as a result, it is difficult to estimate the size of the market and predict the rate at which the market for our products will grow, if at all. While our market size estimates are made in good faith and are based on assumptions and estimates we believe to be reasonable, these estimates may not be accurate. If our estimates of the size of our addressable market are not accurate, our potential for future growth may be less than we currently anticipate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be unable to source additional suppliers, or strengthen our existing relationships with suppliers. In addition, the loss of any of our key suppliers would negatively impact our business.

In order to attract quality suppliers, we must demonstrate our ability to help our suppliers increase their sales, offer suppliers a high quality and cost-effective fulfillment process, and continue to provide suppliers a dynamic and real-time view of our demand and inventory needs.

If we are unable to attract and retain suppliers, we may be unable to maintain and/or expand our supplier network, which would negatively impact our business.

If any of our significant pet product suppliers discontinue selling to us at any time, whether due to the termination of an agreement or otherwise, or they discontinue offering us any preferential pricing or exclusive incentives, it could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, in our experience, it is challenging to persuade pet food buyers to switch to a different product, which could make it difficult to retain certain customers if we lose a pet food supplier, thereby exacerbating the negative impact of such loss on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We continually seek to expand our base of suppliers and to identify new pet products. If we are unable to identify or enter into distribution relationships with new suppliers or to replace the loss of any of our existing suppliers, we may experience a competitive disadvantage, our business may be disrupted and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Most 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 and our competitive position may suffer. Furthermore, 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.

In addition, several of the pet food brands we currently purchase and offer for sale to our customers are not offered by our closest specialty pet retailer competitors. However, we have not entered into formal exclusivity agreements with the suppliers for such brands. In the event these suppliers 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.

Certain of our principal suppliers currently provide us with incentives related to volume purchasing, trade allowances, cooperative advertising and market development funds. A reduction or discontinuance of these incentives could reduce our overall profitability. Similarly, if one or more of our suppliers were to offer certain incentives, including preferential pricing, to our competitors, our competitive advantage could be reduced, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Shipping is a critical part of our business and any changes in, or disruptions to, our shipping arrangements could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we do not successfully optimize, operate and manage the expansion of the capacity of our fulfillment centers, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be harmed.

If we do not optimize and operate our fulfillment centers successfully and efficiently, it could result in excess or insufficient fulfillment capacity, an increase in costs or impairment charges or harm to our business in other ways. In addition, if we do not have sufficient fulfillment capacity or experience problems fulfilling orders in a timely manner, including as a result of unforeseen disruptions, our customers may experience delays in receiving their purchases, which could harm our reputation, our relationship with our customers and our results of operations. In addition, we have had to, and may again have to, pause operations at a fulfillment center in order to implement our COVID-19 sanitation procedures, which has resulted, and could again result in, delayed or canceled orders. These actions or other actions that we may take in response to unforeseen circumstances that have the effect of delaying or canceling orders could negatively impact our ability to maintain, protect or enhance our brand.

Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused and may continue to cause disruptions to our supply chain operations and labor workforce availability. If we are unable to successfully optimize our fulfillment centers, it could increase costs and adversely affect our business.

We have designed and built our own fulfillment center infrastructure which is tailored to meet the specific needs of our business, including customizing third-party inventory and package handling software systems and automated fulfillment capabilities. If we continue to add fulfillment and warehouse capabilities, add new businesses or categories with different fulfillment requirements or change the mix in products that we sell, our fulfillment network could become increasingly complex and operating it may become more challenging. Failure to successfully address such challenges in a cost-effective and timely manner could impair our ability to timely deliver our customers’ purchases and could harm our reputation and ultimately, our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to provide our customers with a cost-effective platform that is able to respond and adapt to rapid changes in technology.

Our customers generally access the Internet through devices other than personal computers, including mobile phones, handheld computers such as notebooks and tablets, video game consoles and television set-top devices. The versions of our website and mobile applications developed for these devices may not be compelling to consumers. Adapting our services and/or infrastructure to these devices, as well as other new Internet, networking or telecommunications technologies, could be time-consuming and could require us to incur substantial expenditures, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, as new mobile devices and platforms are released, it is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in developing applications for alternative devices and platforms and we may need to devote significant resources to the creation, support and maintenance of such applications. If we are unable to attract consumers to our website or mobile applications through these devices or are slow to develop a version of our website or mobile applications that is more compatible with alternative devices, we may fail to capture a significant share of consumers in the pet food and accessory market and could also lose customers, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Further, we continually consider whether to upgrade existing technologies and business applications and we may be required to implement new technologies or business applications in the future. The implementation of upgrades and changes may require significant investments. Our results of operations may be affected by the timing, effectiveness and costs associated with the implementation of any upgrades or changes to our systems and infrastructure. In the event that it is more difficult for our customers to buy products from us on their mobile devices, or if our customers choose not to buy products from us on their mobile devices or to use mobile products that do not offer access to our website, we could lose customers and fail to attract new customers. As a result, our customer growth could be harmed and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We are subject to risks related to online payment methods.

We currently accept payments using a variety of methods, including credit card, debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, and gift cards and may offer new payment options over time. These payment options subject us to additional regulations and compliance requirements, and may also increase our exposure to fraud, criminal activity, and other risks. For certain payment methods, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. We are also subject to payment card association operating rules and certification requirements, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”) and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. Failure to comply with PCI DSS 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.

Furthermore, as our business changes, we may be subject to different rules under existing standards, which may require new assessments that involve additional costs 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 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 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 have previously received and could continue to receive orders placed with fraudulent data. If we are unable to detect or control fraud, our liability for these transactions could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend on the development and maintenance of the Internet and mobile infrastructure. This includes maintenance of reliable Internet and mobile infrastructure with the necessary speed, data capacity and security, as well as timely development of complementary products, for providing reliable Internet and mobile access. We also use and rely on services from other third parties, such as our telecommunications services and credit card processors, and those services may be subject to outages and interruptions that are not within our control. We have experienced telecommunication issues and increased failures by our telecommunications providers may interrupt our ability to provide phone support to our customers and distributed denial-of-service (“DDoS”) attacks directed at our telecommunication service providers could prevent customers from accessing our website. In addition, we have in the past and may in the future experience down periods where our third-party credit card processors are unable to process the online payments of our customers and our ability to receive customer orders is disrupted.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if for any reason the reliability of our Internet, telecommunications, payment systems and mobile infrastructure is compromised.

We currently rely upon third-party service providers, including cloud service providers, such as Amazon Web Services (“AWS”). Nearly all of our data storage and analytics are conducted on, and the data and content we create associated with sales on our website and mobile applications are processed through, servers hosted by these providers. We also rely on e-mail service providers, bandwidth providers, Internet service providers and mobile networks to deliver e-mail and “push” communications to customers and to allow customers to access our website.

The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our website, mobile applications, transaction processing systems and technology infrastructure are critical to our reputation and our ability to acquire and retain customers, as well as to maintain adequate customer service levels. We have experienced unavailability of our website and mobile applications, primarily due to DDoS events, and increased unavailability of our website or of our mobile applications or reduced order fulfillment performance would reduce the volume of goods sold and could also materially and adversely affect consumer perception of our brand. Any slowdown or failure of our website, mobile applications or the underlying technology infrastructure could harm our business, reputation and our ability to acquire, retain and serve our customers.

The occurrence of a natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, data loss, computer virus, ransomware attack, an act of terrorism, cyberattack, vandalism or sabotage, act of war or any similar event, or a decision to close our third-party data centers on which we normally operate or the facilities of any other third-party provider without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems at these facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in the availability of our website and mobile applications. Cloud computing, in particular, is dependent upon having access to an Internet connection in order to retrieve data. If a natural disaster, pandemic, blackout or other unforeseen event were to occur that disrupted the ability to obtain an Internet connection, we may experience a slowdown or delay in our operations. While we have some limited business continuity arrangements in place, our preparations may not be adequate to account for disasters or similar events that may occur in the future and may not effectively permit us to continue operating in the event of any problems with respect to our systems or those of our third-party data centers or any other third-party facilities. Our business continuity and data redundancy plans may be inadequate, and our business interruption insurance may not be sufficient to compensate us for the losses that could occur. If any such event were to occur to our business, our operations could be impaired and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Disruptions to software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) technologies from third parties may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We use SaaS technologies from third-parties in order to operate critical functions of our business, including financial management services, customer relationship management services, supply chain services and data storage services. If these services become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices, or for any other reason, our expenses could increase, our ability to manage our finances could be interrupted, our processes for managing sales of our offerings and supporting our customers could be impaired, our ability to communicate with our suppliers could be weakened and our ability to access or save data stored to the cloud may be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our failure or the failure of third-party service providers to protect our website, networks, and systems against cybersecurity incidents, or to otherwise protect our confidential information, could damage our reputation and brand and harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As a result of our services being web-based, we collect, process, transmit and store large amounts of data about our customers, employees, suppliers and others, including credit card information (which we don’t store) and personally identifiable information, as well as other confidential and proprietary information. We also employ third-party service providers for a variety of reasons, including storing, processing and transmitting proprietary, personal and confidential information on our behalf. While we rely on tokenization solutions licensed from third-parties in an effort to securely transmit confidential and sensitive information, including credit card numbers, advances in computer capabilities, new technological discoveries or other developments may result in the whole or partial failure of these solutions to protect confidential and sensitive information from being breached or compromised. Similarly, our security measures, and those of our third-party service providers, may not detect or prevent all attempts to hack our systems or those of our third-party service providers. DDoS attacks, viruses, malicious software, break-ins, phishing attacks, ransomware, social engineering, security breaches or other cybersecurity incidents and similar disruptions that may jeopardize the security of information stored in or transmitted by our website, networks and systems or that we or our third-party service providers otherwise maintain, including payment card systems, may subject us to fines or higher transaction fees or limit or terminate our access to certain payment methods. We and our service providers may not anticipate or prevent all types of attacks until after they have already been launched, and techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or sabotage systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us or our third-party service providers. In addition, cybersecurity incidents can also occur as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent breaches by our employees or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships.

While we maintain privacy, data breach and network security liability insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all. Additionally, even though we continue to devote significant resources to monitor and update our systems and implement information security measures to protect our systems, there can be no assurance that any controls and procedures we have in place will be sufficient to protect us from future cybersecurity incidents. Failure by us or our vendors to comply with data security requirements 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. As cyber threats are continually evolving, our controls and procedures may become inadequate and we may be required to devote additional resources to modify or enhance our systems in the future. As a result, we may face interruptions to our systems, reputational damage, claims under privacy, cybersecurity and data protection laws and regulations, customer dissatisfaction, legal liability, enforcement actions or additional costs, any and all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Safety, quality, and health concerns regarding our products could affect our business.

We could be adversely affected if consumers lose confidence in the safety and quality of our vendor supplied or private brand food or other products. All of our suppliers are required to comply with applicable product safety laws and we are dependent upon them to ensure such compliance. One or more of our suppliers, including manufacturers of our private brand products, might not adhere to product safety requirements or our quality control standards. 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. Adverse publicity about these types of concerns, whether valid or not, may discourage consumers from buying the products we offer, or cause supplier production and delivery disruptions. The real or perceived sale of contaminated food products by us could result in product liability claims against our suppliers or us, expose us or our suppliers to governmental enforcement action or private litigation, or lead to costly recalls and a loss of consumer confidence, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, our products may be exposed to product recalls, and we may be subject to litigation, if they are alleged to cause or 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 also voluntarily recall or withdraw products that we consider do not meet our standards, whether for palatability, appearance or otherwise, in order to protect our brand and reputation. While we carry product liability insurance, our insurance may not be adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur in connection with product liability claims. For example, punitive damages are generally not covered by insurance. In addition, we may be unable to continue to maintain our existing insurance, obtain comparable insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all, or secure additional coverage, which may result in future product liability claims being uninsured. Any of these factors could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risks associated with our suppliers and our outsourcing partners, many of which are located outside of the U.S., could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend on a number of suppliers and outsourcing partners to provide our customers with a wide range of products in a timely and efficient manner. A significant portion of our suppliers for our private brand business and our non-consumable business are located in China and if we are unable to maintain our relationships with our existing outsourcing partners or cannot enter into relationships with new outsourcing partners to meet the manufacturing and assembly needs of our private brand business, our private brand business may be disrupted and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, political and economic instability, the financial stability of our suppliers and outsourcing partners and their ability to meet our standards, conflict and hostilities, labor problems, the availability and prices of raw materials, merchandise quality issues, currency exchange rates, transport availability and cost, transport security, inflation, natural disasters and epidemics, tariffs, taxes, export controls, trade restrictions and sanctions, among other factors, are beyond our control and may materially and adversely affect our suppliers and outsourcing partners and, in turn, our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For example, governments, public institutions and other organizations in countries and regions took certain emergency measures to combat the spread and impact of COVID-19, including the implementation of travel bans and closures of factories, schools, public buildings, businesses and other institutions. It remains difficult to assess or predict the ultimate impact of COVID-19 and the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants. Our business has been affected by, and may continue to be affected by, disruptions or restrictions on our employees’ and other service providers’ ability to travel, temporary closures of our facilities, including one or more of our fulfillment centers or customer service centers, or the facilities of our suppliers and other vendors in our supply chain. In addition to the potential direct effects on us of COVID-19 or any similar epidemic or pandemic, we could be materially adversely impacted, including from any disruption to critical vendor services or losses of business, if any of our suppliers face significant business disruptions as a result of COVID-19 or any similar outbreak.

In addition, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to disruption, instability and volatility in the global markets and industries that could negatively impact our operations. The U.S. government and other governments have imposed severe sanctions and export controls against Russia and Russian interests and threatened additional sanctions and controls. The impact of the conflict and any sanctions or other measures implemented as a result is currently unknown and could adversely affect our business, supply chain, partners or customers.

Moreover, there is uncertainty regarding the future of international trade agreements and the U.S.’ position on international trade. For example, the U.S. government has previously threatened to undertake a number of actions relating to trade with certain countries, including the imposition of escalating tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. and sanctions on certain countries due to violations of product safety, labor, human rights, or other laws. In addition, the U.S. government has previously raised tariffs, and imposed new tariffs, on a wide range of imports of Chinese products. The U.S. federal government may also withdraw from or materially modify international trade agreements.

Additional trade restrictions, including tariffs, quotas, embargoes, safeguards and customs restrictions, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of products available to us and to our suppliers based in the U.S. and may require us to modify our supply chain organization or other current business practices, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Among other regulatory requirements, the FDA reviews the inclusion of certain 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 containing a list of specific factors it will consider in determining whether to initiate 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 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.

In addition to enforcement actions initiated by government agencies, there has been an increasing tendency in the U.S. among pharmaceutical companies to resort to the courts and industry and self-regulatory bodies to challenge comparative prescription drug advertising on the grounds that the advertising is false and deceptive. Through the years, there has been a continuing expansion of specific rules, prohibitions, media restrictions, labeling disclosures, and warning requirements with respect to the advertising for certain products.

These developments and others related to government regulation could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The sale and delivery of prescription pet medications and the provision of pharmacy and telehealth services are generally governed by federal and state laws and regulations, and are subject to extensive oversight by state and federal governmental authorities. Governmental authorities that regulate our business have broad latitude to make, interpret, and enforce the applicable laws and regulations and they continue to interpret and enforce those laws and regulations more strictly and more aggressively each year. We are currently and may in the future continue to be subject to routine administrative inquiries related to our pharmacy and telehealth services businesses. We cannot assure you that we will not be subject to reprimands, sanctions, probations or fines, or that one or more of our licenses will not be suspended or revoked, or that our ability to offer pharmacy and telehealth services will not be challenged, in connection with these complaints or otherwise.

Our insurance and pharmacy businesses also involve the provision of professional services, that could expose us to professional liability claims. Our pharmacy business is subject to risks inherent in the dispensing, packaging and distribution of drugs and other health care products and services, including claims related to purported dispensing and other operational errors. Any failure to adhere to the laws and regulations applicable to the dispensing of drugs could subject our businesses to administrative, civil and criminal penalties.

If we are unable to maintain the licenses granted by relevant state authorities in connection with our insurance and pharmacy businesses, or if we become subject to actions by the FDA or other regulators, our dispensing of prescription medications to pet parents could cease and we may be subject to reprimands, sanctions, probations or fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Resistance from veterinarians to authorize prescriptions, or their efforts 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 resist providing customers with a copy of their pet’s prescription or authorizing the prescription to our pharmacy staff, thereby effectively preventing us from filling such prescriptions under applicable law. Certain veterinarians have also tried to discourage pet owners from purchasing prescription medication from Internet mail order pharmacies. If the number of veterinarians who refuse to authorize prescriptions to our pharmacy staff 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.

We face significant competition from veterinarians and other retailers and may not be able to compete profitably with them.

We compete with veterinarians for the sale of pet medications and other health products. Veterinarians hold a competitive advantage because many pet owners may find it more convenient or preferable to purchase prescription medications directly from their veterinarians at the time of an office visit. We also compete with online and traditional retailers, who may hold a competitive advantage because of longer operating histories, established brand names, greater resources, and/or a more established customer base.

Failure to comply with federal and state laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, marketing and advertising and consumer protection, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection, marketing and advertising and consumer protection, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We rely on a variety of marketing techniques, including email and social media marketing and postal mailings, and we are subject to various laws and regulations that govern such marketing and advertising practices. A variety of federal and state laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of consumer data, particularly in the context of online advertising which we rely upon to attract new customers. In addition, we also collect, store, and transmit employees’ health information for certain reasons, such as administering employee benefits; accommodating disabilities and injuries; complying with public health requirements; and maintaining employee safety in the workplace.

Laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, marketing and advertising, and consumer protection are evolving and subject to potentially differing interpretations. 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. As a result, our practices may not have complied or may not comply in the future with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our posted privacy policies or with any federal or state privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, 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, liabilities, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, customers, suppliers or others, or may require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data sets. Any such claims, proceedings or actions could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceedings or actions, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of customers and suppliers and result in the imposition of monetary penalties. We may also be contractually required to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any laws, regulations or other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection, cybersecurity or consumer protection or any inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure of data that we store or handle as part of operating our business.

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 for behavioral advertising and other purposes. The U.S. government and state governments have enacted, have considered or are considering enacting, legislation or regulations that could 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. 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 result in the use of third-party cookies and other methods of online tracking becoming significantly less effective. The regulation of the use of these cookies and other current online tracking 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 limit our ability to acquire new customers 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, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, consumer protection, and advertising. For example, in June 2018, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA requires companies that process information of California residents to make new disclosures to consumers about their data collection, use and sharing practices, and allows consumers to opt out of selling their data to third parties and provides a new cause of action for data breaches. Further, on November 3, 2020, the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”) was voted into law by California residents. 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 creates a new California data protection agency specifically tasked to enforce the law, which could result in increased regulatory scrutiny of businesses conducting activities in California in the areas of data protection and security. The substantive requirements for businesses subject to the CPRA went into effect on January 1, 2023, and will be enforced effective from July 1, 2023. Other states in which we operate have also enacted laws similar to CPRA and similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, and if passed, such laws may have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and many state attorneys general are interpreting federal and state consumer protection laws to impose standards for the online collection, use, dissemination and security of data. 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 may be subject to government claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, which could 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 any other such changes or new laws or regulations, could impose significant limitations, require changes to our business, impose fines and other penalties or restrict our use or storage of personal information, which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business more costly or less efficient to conduct. 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.

Our ability to utilize net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards, and other tax attributes may be subject to certain limitations.

Our ability to use our federal and state net operating losses and tax credits, and other tax attributes to offset potential future taxable income and related income taxes that would otherwise be due is dependent upon our generation of future taxable income, and we cannot predict with certainty when, or whether, we will generate sufficient taxable income to use all of our accumulated tax benefits. In addition, Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), contain rules that impose an annual limitation on the ability of a company with net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards that undergoes an ownership change, which is generally any change in ownership of more than 50% of its stock (by value) over a three-year period, to utilize its net operating loss carryforwards in years after the ownership change. These rules generally operate by focusing on ownership changes among holders owning directly or indirectly 5% or more of the shares of stock of a company or any change in ownership arising from a new issuance of shares of stock by such company. If a company’s income in any year is less than the annual limitation prescribed by Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, the unused portion of such limitation amount may be carried forward to increase the limitation (and net operating loss and tax credit carryforward utilization) in subsequent tax years.

In addition to the aforementioned federal income tax implications pursuant to Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, most states follow the general provisions of Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, either explicitly or implicitly resulting in separate state net operating loss and tax credit limitations.

We may be unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights. Additionally, 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 regard our brand, customer lists, trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, patents, proprietary technology and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. We rely on trademark, copyright and patent law, trade secret protection, agreements and other methods with our employees and others to protect our proprietary rights. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every country in which our products are, or may be made, available. 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 intellectual property rights. Any of our 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. Furthermore, our 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.

We might be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. For example, we have initiated and may again initiate claims or litigation against others for infringement, misappropriation or violation of our intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights or to establish the validity of such rights. 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 litigation, whether or not it is resolved in our favor, could result in significant expense to us and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, our technology platform may use open-source software. The use of such open-source software may subject us to certain conditions, including the obligation to offer, distribute, or disclose our technology platform for no or reduced cost, make the proprietary source code subject to open-source software licenses available to the public, license our software and systems that use open-source software for the purpose of making derivative works, or allow reverse assembly, disassembly, or reverse engineering. We monitor our use of open-source software to avoid subjecting our technology platform to conditions we do not intend. However, if our technology platform becomes subject to such unintended conditions, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Third parties have from time to time claimed, and may claim in the future, that we have infringed their intellectual property rights. These claims, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in considerable litigation costs, require significant amounts of management time or result in the diversion of significant operational resources and expensive changes to our business model, result in the payment of substantial damages or injunctions against us, or require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements, if available. In addition, we may be unable to obtain or utilize on terms that are favorable to us, or at all, licenses or other rights with respect to intellectual property we do not own. These risks have been amplified by the increase in third parties whose sole or primary business is to assert such claims. Any payments we are required to make and any injunctions we are required to comply with as a result of these claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be subject to personal injury, workers’ compensation, product liability, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour, and other claims in the ordinary course of business.

Our business involves a risk of personal injury, workers’ compensation, product liability, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour, and other claims in the ordinary course of business. Product liability claims from customers and product recalls for merchandise alleged to be defective or harmful could lead to the disposal or write-off of merchandise inventories, the incurrence of fines or penalties, and damage to our reputation. We maintain general liability insurance with a self-insured retention and workers’ compensation insurance with a deductible for each occurrence. We also maintain umbrella insurance above the primary general liability and product liability coverage. In many cases, we have indemnification rights against the manufacturers of our products and are entitled to coverage under their products liability insurance. Our ability to recover costs and damages under such insurance or indemnification arrangements is subject to the financial viability of the insurers, manufacturers, and the specific allegations of a claim. No assurance can be given that our insurance coverage or the manufacturers’ indemnity will be available or sufficient in any claims brought against us.

We rely on the performance of members of management and highly skilled personnel, and if we are unable to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled employees, our business could be harmed.

Uncertainties in economic conditions, industry trends, and market conditions, and their impact on the pet products market, could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our results of operations are sensitive to changes in certain macro-economic conditions that impact the pet products market, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Factors such as inflation and rising interest rates can adversely affect us by increasing costs of materials and labor. In a highly inflationary environment, we may be unable to raise the price of our products and services at or above the rate of inflation, which could reduce our profitability. In addition, our cost of capital, labor and materials can increase, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Deflation could cause an overall decrease in spending and borrowing capacity, which could lead to deterioration in economic conditions and employment levels. Deflation could also cause the value of our inventories to decline. Other uncertainties in economic conditions that impact the pet products market and its participants, such as our vendors, suppliers, and investors, may also adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Significant merchandise returns or refunds could harm our business.

We allow our customers to return products or offer refunds, subject to our return and refunds policy. If merchandise returns or refunds are significant or higher than anticipated and forecasted, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. Further, we modify our policies relating to returns or refunds from time to time, and may do so in the future, which may result in customer dissatisfaction and harm to our reputation or brand, or an increase in the number of product returns or the amount of refunds we make.

Severe weather, including hurricanes, earthquakes and natural disasters could disrupt normal business operations, which could result in increased costs and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Several of our fulfillment centers, customer service centers, and corporate offices are located in Florida, Texas, and other areas that are susceptible to hurricanes, sea-level rise, earthquakes, and other natural disasters and severe weather events (including those resulting from climate change). Recent intense weather conditions may cause property insurance premiums to significantly increase in the future. We recognize that the frequency and intensity of severe weather events, sea-level rise, and other climatic changes may continue to increase, and as a result, our exposure to these events may increase. A potential result of climate change is more frequent or severe natural disasters or weather events. To the extent such natural disasters or weather events do become more frequent or severe, disruptions to our business and costs to repair facilities or maintain or resume operations could increase. The long-term impacts of climate change, whether involving physical risks or transition risks, may be widespread and unpredictable. These changes over time could also affect, for example, the availability and cost of our products, insurance, commodities 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.Therefore, we may experience certain risks, including higher costs, such as uninsured property losses and higher insurance premiums, as well as unexpected disruptions to our business and operations, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may seek to grow our business through acquisitions of, or investments in, new or complementary businesses, facilities, technologies, offerings or products, or through strategic alliances, and the failure to manage these acquisitions, investments or other strategic alliances, or to integrate them with our existing business, could have a material adverse effect on us.

We have acquired and invested in a number of businesses, and we may in the future consider opportunities to acquire or make investments in new or complementary businesses, facilities, technologies, offerings, or products, or enter into strategic alliances, that may enhance our capabilities, expand our outsourcing and supplier network, complement our current products and services or expand the breadth of our markets. Acquisitions, investments and other strategic alliances involve numerous risks, including:

Our ability to successfully grow through strategic transactions depends upon our ability to identify, negotiate, complete and integrate suitable target businesses, facilities, technologies and products and to obtain any necessary financing. These efforts could be expensive and time-consuming and may disrupt our ongoing business and prevent management from focusing on our operations. As a result of future strategic transactions, we might need to issue additional equity securities, spend our cash, or incur debt (which may only be available on unfavorable terms, if at all), contingent liabilities, impairment charges, or amortization expenses related to intangible assets, any of which could reduce our profitability and harm our business. If we are unable to identify suitable acquisitions, investments or strategic relationships, or if we are unable to integrate any acquired businesses, facilities, technologies, offerings and products effectively, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Also, while we employ several different methodologies to assess potential business opportunities, the new businesses or investments may not meet or exceed our expectations or desired objectives.

Our business results could be adversely affected if our entry into the pet insurance market is unsuccessful.

We have expanded our business into the pet insurance market. As a new entrant, we face many competitive challenges including competing successfully with incumbent pet insurance providers who have long operating histories, large customer bases, high brand recognition and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. To compete effectively, we may need to invest significant resources to create brand awareness and build our reputation in the market, and our efforts at building, maintaining and enhancing our reputation could fail. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain or enhance our reputation, and failure to do so could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If we are unable to maintain or enhance consumer awareness of our brand cost-effectively, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Regulation of the sale of insurance for pets is subject to change, and future regulations could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

The laws and regulations governing the offer, sale and purchase of insurance for pets 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 an 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. Although model laws are available to guide individual states and business, 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 be incompatible with various aspects of our business and require that we make significant modifications to our existing technology or practices, which may be costly and time-consuming to implement and could also harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

If we cannot successfully manage the unique challenges presented by international markets, we may not be successful in expanding our operations outside the U.S.

Our strategy may include the expansion of our operations to international markets. Although some of our executive officers have experience in international business from prior positions, we have minimal experience with operations outside the U.S. Our ability to successfully execute this strategy is affected by many of the same operational risks we face in expanding our U.S. operations. In addition, our international expansion may be adversely affected by: our ability to identify and gain access to local suppliers; our ability to staff, develop, and manage foreign operations as a result of distance, language, and cultural differences; our ability to obtain and protect relevant trademarks, domain names, and other intellectual property; and local laws and customs, legal and regulatory constraints, political and economic conditions and currency regulations of the countries or regions in which we operate or intend to operate in the future, including limitations on the repatriation and investment of funds and foreign currency exchange restrictions. Risks inherent in expanding our operations internationally also include, among others, the costs and difficulties of managing international operations, adverse tax consequences, domestic and international tariffs and other barriers to trade. Further, the extent and impact of any sanctions imposed in connection with the escalation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, or other geopolitical events, may cause additional financial market volatility and impact the global economy and also impact our strategy of expansion into international markets.

Risks Related to Our Industry

Competition in the pet products and services health and retail industries, especially Internet-based competition, is strong and presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business.

The pet products and services health and retail industries is very competitive. We compete with pet product retail stores, supermarkets, warehouse clubs and other mass and general retail and online merchandisers, including e-tailers, many of which are larger than us and have significantly greater capital resources than we do. We also compete with a number of specialty pet supply stores and independent pet stores, catalog retailers and other specialty e-tailers.

Many of our current competitors have, and potential competitors may have, longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, larger fulfillment infrastructures, greater technical capabilities, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources and larger customer bases than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to derive greater net sales and profits from their existing customer base, acquire customers at lower costs or respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies and changes in consumer preferences or habits. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies (including but not limited to predatory pricing policies and the provision of substantial discounts), which may allow them to build larger customer bases or generate net sales from their customer bases more effectively than we do.

We have been able to compete successfully by differentiating ourselves from our competitors by providing a large selection of high-quality pet food, treats and supplies, competitive pricing, convenience and exceptional customer service. If changes in consumer preferences decrease the competitive advantage attributable to these factors, or if we fail to otherwise positively differentiate our product offering or customer experience from our competitors, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In particular, a key component of our business strategy is to rely on our reputation for exceptional customer service. This is done, in part, by recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining employees who share our core values of delivering superior service to our customers and caring about the needs of pet parents and partners. If our reputation is negatively affected by the actions of our employees, by our inability to conduct our operations in a manner that is appealing to current or prospective customers, or otherwise, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to maintain our current levels of customer service and our reputation for customer service as we grow or otherwise, our net sales may not continue to grow or may decline, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We compete directly and indirectly with veterinarians for the sale of pet medications and other pet health products. Veterinarians hold a competitive advantage over us because many pet parents may find it more convenient or preferable to purchase these products directly from their veterinarians at the time of an office visit. We also compete directly and indirectly with both online and traditional pet pharmacies. Both online and traditional pet pharmacies may hold a competitive advantage over us because of longer operating histories, established brand names, greater resources, and/or an established customer base. Online pet pharmacies may have a competitive advantage over us because of established affiliate relationships that drive traffic to their website. Traditional pet pharmacies may hold a competitive advantage over us because pet parents may prefer to purchase these products from a store instead of online. In addition, we face growing competition from online and multichannel pet pharmacies, some of whom may have a lower cost structure than ours, as customers now routinely use computers, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices and mobile applications to shop online and compare prices and products in real time. In order to effectively compete in the future, we may be required to offer promotions and other incentives, which may result in lower operating margins and in turn adversely affect our results of operations. We also face a significant challenge from our competitors forming alliances with each other, such as those between online and traditional pet pharmacies. These relationships may enable both their retail and online stores to negotiate better pricing and better terms from suppliers by aggregating the demand for products and negotiating volume discounts, which could be a competitive disadvantage to us.

We expect competition in the pet products and services health and retail industries, in particular Internet-based competition, generally to continue to increase. If we fail to compete successfully, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Government regulation of the Internet and e-commerce is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these regulations could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to general business regulations and laws as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the Internet and e-commerce. Existing and future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the Internet, e-commerce or mobile commerce, which could adversely affect our growth. These regulations and laws may involve taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, consumer protection and Internet neutrality. It is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes and consumer privacy apply to the Internet as the vast majority of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the Internet or e-commerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically governing the Internet or e-commerce, may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot be sure that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business and proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, customers, suppliers or others. Any such proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant amounts in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, decrease the use of our website and mobile applications by consumers and suppliers and may result in the imposition of monetary liabilities. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations. As a result, adverse developments with respect to these laws and regulations could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Changes in tax treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce may adversely affect the commercial use of our website and mobile applications and our financial results.

On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) overturned a prior decision under which e-tailers had not been required to collect sales tax unless they had a physical presence in the buyer’s state. As a result, a state may now enforce or adopt laws requiring e-tailers to collect and remit sales tax even if the e-tailer has no physical presence within the taxing state provided certain conditions are met. In response, an increasing number of states have adopted or are considering adopting laws or administrative practices, with or without notice, that impose sales or similar value added or consumption taxes on e-commerce activity, as well as taxes on all or a portion of gross revenue or other similar amounts earned by an e-tailer from sales to customers in the state. Since October 28, 2018, we have collected sales tax on sales and remitted such tax to the extent required in the states to which we ship. If any state were to assert that we have any liability for sales tax for prior periods and seek to collect such tax in arrears and/or impose penalties for past non-payment of taxes, it could have an adverse effect on us.

New laws or regulations, the application of laws and regulations from jurisdictions, including other countries whose laws do not currently apply to our business, or the application of existing laws and regulations to the Internet and commercial online services could similarly result in significant additional taxes on our business. These taxes or tax collection obligations could have an adverse effect on us, including by way of creating additional administrative burdens on us. For instance, the Supreme Court’s decision and the enactment and enforcement of laws resulting therefrom could also impact where we are required to file state income taxes. As a result, our effective income tax rate as well as the cost and growth of our business could be materially and adversely affected, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. New or revised taxes would likely increase the cost of doing business online and decrease the attractiveness of selling products over the Internet. New taxes could also create significant increases in internal costs necessary to capture data and collect and remit taxes. Furthermore, there is a possibility that we may be subject to significant fines or other payments for any past failures to comply with these requirements.

We are also subject to U.S. federal and state laws, regulations, and administrative practices that require us to collect information from our customers, vendors, merchants, and other third parties for tax reporting purposes and report such information to various government agencies. The scope of such requirements continues to expand, requiring us to develop and implement new compliance systems. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in significant penalties. We cannot predict the effect of current attempts to impose sales, income or other taxes or fees on e-commerce. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Restrictions in our revolving credit facility could adversely affect our operating flexibility.

Our revolving credit facility limits our ability to, among other things:

Our revolving credit facility also contains covenants requiring us to maintain certain financial ratios. The provisions of our revolving credit facility may affect our ability to obtain future financing and to pursue attractive business opportunities and our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in business conditions. As a result, restrictions in our revolving credit facility could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with the provisions of our revolving credit facility could result in a default or an event of default that could enable our lenders to declare the outstanding principal of that debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable. If the payment of outstanding amounts under our revolving credit facility is accelerated, our assets may be insufficient to repay such amounts in full, and our stockholders could experience a partial or total loss of their investment.

The terms of our revolving credit facility may restrict our ability to pay dividends.

We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the operation and expansion of our business and we do not expect to declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the terms of our revolving credit facility may restrict our ability to pay dividends, and any additional debt we may incur in the future may include similar restrictions. As a result, and for the foreseeable future, stockholders must rely on sales of their Class A common stock after price appreciation as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.

Conflicts of interest may arise because some of our directors own stock or other equity interests in PetSmart and hold management or board positions with PetSmart.

Some of our directors directly or indirectly own equity interests in PetSmart. In addition, some of our directors are also directors or officers of PetSmart or its parent companies. Ownership of such equity interests by our directors and the presence of directors or officers of PetSmart or its parent companies on our board of directors could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving both us and any one of them, or involving us and PetSmart, that could have different implications for any of these investors than they do for us. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, none of our non-employee directors have a duty, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to refrain from engaging in the same or similar business activities or lines of business in which we are now engaged in or from otherwise competing with us. In addition, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we may be unable to take advantage of corporate opportunities presented to individuals who are directors of both us and our affiliates, including PetSmart. As a result, we may be precluded from pursuing certain advantageous transactions or growth initiatives.

Our inability to resolve in a manner favorable to us any potential conflicts or disputes that arise between us and PetSmart or its subsidiaries with respect to our past and ongoing relationships may adversely affect our business and prospects.

Potential conflicts or disputes may arise between PetSmart or its subsidiaries and us in a number of areas relating to our past or ongoing relationships, including:

The resolution of any potential conflicts or disputes between us and PetSmart or its subsidiaries over these or other matters may be unfavorable for us.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock

Our stock price has been, and may continue to be, volatile and may decline regardless of our operating performance.

Prior to our initial public offering in June 2019, there had been no public market for our Class A common stock. The market price of our Class A common stock has fluctuated significantly in response to numerous factors and may continue to fluctuate for these and other reasons, many of which are beyond our control, including:

The stock market has recently experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. The market prices of securities of companies have experienced fluctuations that often have been unrelated or disproportionate to their operating results. In the past, stockholders have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their securities. Any similar litigation against us could result in substantial costs, divert management’s attention and resources, and harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The dual 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. As a result, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in any of these 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. Furthermore, we cannot assure you that other stock indices will not take a similar approach to S&P Dow Jones or 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.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our Class A common stock.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:

These 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. As a result, these provisions may adversely affect the market price and market for our Class A common stock if they are viewed as limiting the liquidity of our stock or as discouraging takeover attempts in the future.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision 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 our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Affiliates of BC Partners control the direction of our business and the concentrated ownership of our common stock will prevent other stockholders from influencing significant decisions.

As of March 15, 2023, affiliates of BC Partners beneficially owned more than 50% of our outstanding shares of common stock and, together with its affiliates, exercised control over more than 95% of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. So long as BC Partners and/or its affiliates remain our controlling stockholder they will be able to control, directly or indirectly, and subject to applicable law, all matters affecting us, including:

Because BC Partners and its affiliates’ interests may differ from ours or from those of our other stockholders, actions that BC Partners or its affiliates take with respect to us, as our controlling stockholder, may not be favorable to us or our other stockholders, including holders of our Class A common stock. In addition, even if BC Partners and/or its affiliates were to control less than a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, it may be able to influence the outcome of such matters so long as it owns a significant portion of our common stock.

In addition, certain of our stockholders which are affiliated with BC Partners have granted, and in the future may grant, a security interest in shares of our common stock beneficially owned by them, to secure certain debt, including debt of PetSmart, each of which includes customary default provisions. In the event of a default under the agreements governing such debt, the secured parties may foreclose upon any and all shares of our common stock pledged to them. Future transfers by BC Partners and their affiliates of Class B common stock, which entitles each holder thereof to ten votes per share (including transfers by secured parties that foreclose on Class B common stock), will generally result in those shares converting on a one-to-one basis to Class A common stock, which entitles each holder thereof to one vote per share. As a result, such transfers will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares in the long-term, which may include our directors and their affiliates.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of NYSE and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

Future litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Lawsuits and other administrative or legal proceedings that may arise in the course of our operations can involve substantial costs, including the costs associated with investigation, litigation and possible settlement, judgment, penalty or fine. In addition, lawsuits and other legal proceedings may be time consuming and may require a commitment of management and personnel resources that will be diverted from our normal business operations. Although we generally maintain insurance to mitigate certain costs, there can be no assurance that costs associated with lawsuits or other legal proceedings will not exceed the limits of insurance policies. Moreover, we may be unable to continue to maintain our existing insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all, or to secure additional coverage, which may result in costs associated with lawsuits and other legal proceedings being uninsured. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected if a judgment, penalty or fine is not fully covered by insurance.

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited and our failure to raise capital when needed could prevent us from growing.

In the future, we could be required to raise capital through public or private financing or other arrangements. Such financing may not be acceptable or available due to factors beyond our control, such as rising interest rates, uncertainty in financial markets, or economic instability, and our failure to raise capital when needed could harm our business. We may sell Class A common stock, convertible securities and other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner as we may determine from time to time. If we sell any such securities in subsequent transactions, investors in our Class A common stock may be materially diluted. New investors in such subsequent transactions could gain rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our Class A common stock. Debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants and could reduce our operational flexibility or profitability. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, we may be forced to raise funds on undesirable terms, or our business may contract or we may be unable to grow our business or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may experience fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We are subject to U.S. federal, U.S. state income taxes and Chinese income taxes. Tax laws, regulations and administrative practices in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change, with or without advance notice, due to economic, political and other conditions, and significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. Such changes may have a material impact on us.

Most recently, on August 16, 2022, legislation commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA includes a 1% excise tax on corporate stock repurchases, applicable to repurchases after December 31, 2022, and also a new minimum tax based on book income. Any change in current federal, state, local or non-U.S. tax law, facts or any significant variance of our current interpretation of current legislation or future legislation from any future regulations or interpretive guidance could result in a change to the presentation of our financial condition and results of operations and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

There are many transactions that occur during the ordinary course of business for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Our effective tax rates could be affected by numerous factors, such as changes in tax, accounting and other laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles and interpretations, the mix and level of earnings in a given taxing jurisdiction or our ownership or capital structures.

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.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and any rules promulgated thereunder, as well as the rules of NYSE. The requirements of these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls for financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight are required, and, as a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns. These rules and regulations can also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified independent members of our board of directors and make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. We may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur higher costs to obtain coverage. The increased costs of compliance with public company reporting requirements and our potential failure to satisfy these requirements can have a material adverse effect on our operations, business, financial condition or results of operations.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

We lease and operate our corporate offices in five locations, including our co-headquarters in Florida and Massachusetts. In addition, we lease and operate fulfillment centers in seventeen locations, at which we receive products from vendors, ship products to customers, and receive and process returns from customers. We also lease and operate customer service centers in four locations. The following table sets forth the location, use, and size of certain of our properties as of March 15, 2023:

We believe that all of our properties have been adequately maintained, are in good condition, and are generally suitable and adequate for our current needs.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Information concerning legal proceedings is provided in Item 8 of Part II, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data–Note 7 – Commitments and Contingencies–Legal Matters” and is incorporated by reference herein.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

Market Information for Common Stock

Our Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CHWY” and began trading on June 14, 2019. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our Class A common stock. There is no public trading market for our Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share.

Holders of Common Stock

As of the close of business on March 15, 2023, there were 131 stockholders of record of our Class A common stock and 3 stockholders of our Class B common stock. The actual number of holders of our Class A common stock is greater than the number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers or other nominees. The number of holders of record present here also do not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.

Dividend Policy

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. We expect to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. Any future determination to pay dividends on our common stock will be made at the discretion of the Board and will depend upon, among other factors, our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion and other factors that the Board may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of our credit facilities contain restrictions on our ability to declare and pay cash dividends on our capital stock.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

There were no sales of unregistered equity securities during the thirteen weeks ended January 29, 2023.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

There were no repurchases of equity securities during the thirteen weeks ended January 29, 2023.

Cumulative Stock Performance Graph

The following performance graph shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Chewy, Inc. under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

The following graph compares the cumulative total return to stockholders of our Class A common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 Index and DJ Internet Commerce Index. An investment of $100 is assumed to have been made in our Class A common stock and in the indices on June 14, 2019, the date our Class A common stock began trading on the NYSE, and their relative performance is tracked through January 29, 2023. The comparisons are based on historical data and are not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, the future performance of our Class A common stock.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2022 (“10-K Report”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under the “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” sections herein, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this 10-K Report to “Chewy,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer to Chewy, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. 

Investors and others should note that we may announce material information to our investors using our investor relations website (https://investor.chewy.com/), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels, as well as social media, to communicate with our investors and the public about our company, our business and other issues. It is possible that the information that we post on these channels could be deemed to be material information. We therefore encourage investors to visit these websites from time to time. The information contained on such websites and social media posts is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs in this filing are intended to be inactive textual references only.

Overview

We are the largest pure-play pet e-tailer in the United States, offering virtually every product a pet needs. We launched Chewy in 2011 to bring the best of the neighborhood pet store shopping experience to a larger audience, enhanced by the depth and wide selection of products and services, as well as the around-the-clock convenience, that only e-commerce can offer. We believe that we are the preeminent destination for pet parents as a result of our broad selection of high-quality products and expanded menu of service offerings, which we offer at great prices and deliver with an exceptional level of care and a personal touch. We are the trusted source for pet parents and partners and continually develop innovative ways for our customers to engage with us. We partner with more than 3,500 of the best and most trusted brands in the pet industry, and we create and offer our own outstanding private brands. Through our website and mobile applications, we offer our customers more than 110,000 products, compelling merchandising, an easy and enjoyable shopping experience, and exceptional customer service.

COVID-19 and Macroeconomic Considerations

Fiscal Year End

We have a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending each year on the Sunday that is closest to January 31 of that year. Our 2022 fiscal year ended January 29, 2023 and included 52 weeks (“Fiscal Year 2022”). Our 2021 fiscal year ended January 30, 2022 and included 52 weeks (“Fiscal Year 2021”). Our 2020 fiscal year ended January 31, 2021 and included 52 weeks (“Fiscal Year 2020”).

Key Financial and Operating Data

We measure our business using both financial and operating data and use the following metrics and measures to assess the near-term and long-term performance of our overall business, including identifying trends, formulating financial projections, making strategic decisions, assessing operational efficiencies, and monitoring our business.

We define net margin as net income (loss) divided by net sales and adjusted EBITDA margin as adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have disclosed here and elsewhere in this 10-K Report adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure that we calculate as net income (loss) excluding depreciation and amortization; share-based compensation expense and related taxes; income tax provision; interest income (expense), net; management fee expense; transaction related costs; changes in the fair value of equity warrants; and litigation matters and other items that we do not consider representative of our underlying operations. We have provided a reconciliation below of adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

We have included adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin in this 10-K Report because each is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate our operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin facilitates operating performance comparability across reporting periods by removing the effect of non-cash expenses and certain variable charges. Accordingly, we believe that adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

We believe it is useful to exclude non-cash charges, such as depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense and management fee expense from our adjusted EBITDA because the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business operations. We believe it is useful to exclude income tax provision; interest income (expense), net; transaction related costs; changes in the fair value of equity warrants; and litigation matters and other items which are not components of our core business operations. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as a financial measure and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin alongside other financial performance measures, including various cash flow metrics, net income (loss), net margin, and our other GAAP results.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) to adjusted EBITDA, as well as the calculation of net margin and adjusted EBITDA margin, for each of the periods indicated.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Basic and Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share

To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have disclosed here and elsewhere in this 10-K Report adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share, which represent non-GAAP financial measures. We calculate adjusted net income (loss) as net income (loss) excluding share-based compensation expense and related taxes as well as changes in the fair value of equity warrants. We calculate adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share by dividing adjusted net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average shares outstanding during the period. We have provided a reconciliation below of adjusted net income (loss) to net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

We have included adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share in this 10-K Report because each is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate our operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating adjusted net income and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share facilitates operating performance comparability across reporting periods by removing the effect of non-cash expenses and certain variable gains and losses that do not represent a component of our core business operations. We believe it is useful to exclude non-cash share-based compensation expense because the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business operations. We believe it is useful to exclude changes in the fair value of equity warrants, because the associated variable gains and losses are not a component of our core business operations. Accordingly, we believe that these measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share have limitations as financial measures and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Other companies may calculate adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) alongside other financial performance measures, including various cash flow metrics, net income (loss), basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share, and our other GAAP results.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) to adjusted net income (loss), as well as the calculation of adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share, for each of the periods indicated.

Free Cash Flow

To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have also disclosed here and elsewhere in this 10-K Report free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure that we calculate as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less capital expenditures (which consist of purchases of property and equipment, capitalization of labor related to our website, mobile applications, and software development, and leasehold improvements). We have provided a reconciliation below of free cash flow to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

We have included free cash flow in this 10-K Report because it is used by our management and board of directors as an important indicator of our liquidity as it measures the amount of cash we generate. Accordingly, we believe that free cash flow provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Free cash flow has limitations as a financial measure and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures, including that other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate free cash flow differently. Because of these limitations, you should consider free cash flow alongside other financial performance measures, including net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, capital expenditures and our other GAAP results.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow for each of the periods indicated.

Free cash flow may be affected in the near to medium term by the timing of capital investments (such as the launch of new fulfillment centers, customer service centers, and corporate offices and purchases of IT and other equipment), fluctuations in our growth and the effect of such fluctuations on working capital, and changes in our cash conversion cycle due to increases or decreases of vendor payment terms as well as inventory turnover.

Key Operating Metrics

Active Customers

As of the last date of each reporting period, we determine our number of active customers by counting the total number of individual customers who have ordered a product or service, and for whom a product has shipped or for whom a service has been provided, at least once during the preceding 364-day period. The change in active customers in a reporting period captures both the inflow of new customers as well as the outflow of customers who have not made a purchase in the last 364 days. We view the number of active customers as a key indicator of our growth—acquisition and retention of customers—as a result of our marketing efforts and the value we provide to our customers. The number of active customers has grown over time as we acquired new customers and retained previously acquired customers.

Net Sales Per Active Customer

We define net sales per active customer as the aggregate net sales for the preceding four fiscal quarters, divided by the total number of active customers at the end of that period. We view net sales per active customer as a key indicator of our customers’ purchasing patterns, including their initial and repeat purchase behavior.

Autoship and Autoship Customer Sales

We define Autoship customers as customers in a given fiscal quarter that had an order shipped through our Autoship subscription program during the preceding 364-day period. We define Autoship as our subscription program, which provides automatic ordering, payment, and delivery of products to our customers. We view our Autoship subscription program as a key driver of recurring net sales and customer retention. For a given fiscal quarter, Autoship customer sales consist of sales and shipping revenues from all Autoship subscription program purchases and purchases outside of the Autoship subscription program by Autoship customers, excluding taxes collected from customers, excluding any refund allowance, and net of any promotional offers (such as percentage discounts off current purchases and other similar offers) for that quarter. For a given fiscal year, Autoship customer sales equal the sum of the Autoship customer sales for each of the fiscal quarters in that fiscal year.

Autoship Customer Sales as a Percentage of Net Sales

We define Autoship customer sales as a percentage of net sales as the Autoship customer sales in a given reporting period divided by the net sales from all orders in that period. We view Autoship customer sales as a percentage of net sales as a key indicator of our recurring sales and customer retention.

Components of Results of Consolidated Operations

Net Sales

We derive net sales primarily from sales of both third-party brand and private brand pet food, pet products, pet medications and other pet health products, and related shipping fees. Sales of third-party brand and private brand pet food, pet products and shipping revenues are recorded when products are shipped, net of promotional discounts and refund allowances. Taxes collected from customers are excluded from net sales. Net sales is primarily driven by growth of new customers and active customers, and the frequency with which customers purchase and subscribe to our Autoship subscription program.

We also periodically provide promotional offers, including discount offers, such as percentage discounts off current purchases and other similar offers. These offers are treated as a reduction to the purchase price of the related transaction and are reflected as a net amount in net sales.

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold consists of the cost of third-party brand and private brand products sold to customers, inventory freight, shipping supply costs, inventory shrinkage costs, and inventory valuation adjustments, offset by reductions for promotions and percentage or volume rebates offered by our vendors, which may depend on reaching minimum purchase thresholds. Generally, amounts received from vendors are considered a reduction of the carrying value of inventory and are ultimately reflected as a reduction of cost of goods sold.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of payroll and related expenses for employees involved in general corporate functions, including accounting, finance, tax, legal and human resources; costs associated with use by these functions, such as depreciation expense and rent relating to facilities and equipment; professional fees and other general corporate costs; share-based compensation; and fulfillment costs.

Fulfillment costs represent costs incurred in operating and staffing fulfillment and customer service centers, including costs attributable to buying, receiving, inspecting and warehousing inventories, picking, packaging and preparing customer orders for shipment, payment processing, and related transaction costs and responding to inquiries from customers. Included within fulfillment costs are merchant processing fees charged by third parties that provide merchant processing services for credit cards.

Advertising and Marketing

Advertising and marketing expenses consist of advertising and payroll related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing, business development and selling activities.

Interest Income (Expense), net

We generate interest income from our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities. We incur interest expense from our credit facilities and finance leases.

Other Income (Expense), net

Presentation of Results of Consolidated Operations and Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following discussion and analysis of our Results of Consolidated Operations and Liquidity and Capital Resources includes a comparison of Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2021. A similar discussion and analysis which compares Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2020 may be found in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our annual report filed with the SEC on March 29, 2022, and is incorporated herein by reference.

Results of Consolidated Operations

The following tables set forth our results of operations for the fiscal years presented and express the relationship of certain line items as a percentage of net sales for those periods. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Net Sales

Net sales for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by $1.2 billion, or 13.6%, to $10.1 billion compared to $8.9 billion for Fiscal Year 2021. This increase was primarily due to increases in spending per customer from our large and stable customer base. Net sales per active customer increased $65, or 15.1%, to $495 in Fiscal Year 2022 compared to Fiscal Year 2021, driven by growth across our consumables and healthcare businesses, partially offset by a decline in sales in discretionary products, mainly hardgoods. Additionally, our active customer base decreased by 0.3 million, or 1.2%, year-over-year.

Cost of Goods Sold and Gross Profit

Cost of goods sold for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by $750.8 million, or 11.5%, to $7.3 billion compared to $6.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2021. This increase was primarily due to a 4.2% increase in orders shipped as well as an increase in associated product, outbound freight, and shipping supply costs. The increase in cost of goods sold was lower than the increase in net sales on a percentage basis and lower as a percentage of net sales compared to Fiscal Year 2021, reflecting pricing strength, favorable changes in our mix of sales, and supply chain efficiency gains across our fulfillment network.

Gross profit for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by $457.3 million, or 19.3%, to $2.8 billion compared to $2.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2021. This increase was primarily due to the year-over-year increase in net sales as described above. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by approximately 130 basis points compared to Fiscal Year 2021, primarily due to margin expansion across our consumables and hardgoods businesses.

Selling, General and Administrative

Advertising and Marketing

Advertising and marketing expenses for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by $30.5 million, or 4.9%, to $649.4 million compared to $618.9 million in Fiscal Year 2021. Our marketing expenses increased due to additional investment in our upper funnel marketing channels as well as expansion into new channels, contributing to new customer acquisition and an increase in wallet share from our large and stable customer base during Fiscal Year 2022.

Interest Income (Expense), net

Interest income for Fiscal Year 2022 increased by $10.9 million, to $9.3 million compared to interest expense of $1.6 million in Fiscal Year 2021. This increase was due to interest income generated by cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities exceeding interest expenses incurred.

Other Income (Expense), net

Other expenses for Fiscal Year 2022 were $13.2 million and consisted of a change in the fair value of equity warrants, partially offset by foreign currency transaction gains.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We finance our operations and capital expenditures primarily through cash flows generated by operations and equity offerings. Our principal sources of liquidity are expected to be our cash and cash equivalents, marketable fixed income securities, and our revolving credit facility. Cash and cash equivalents consist primarily of cash on deposit with banks and investments in money market funds, U.S. Treasury securities, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $330.4 million as of January 29, 2023, a decrease of $272.6 million from January 30, 2022, primarily driven by our investment in marketable securities during Fiscal Year 2022. Marketable fixed income securities consist primarily of U.S. treasury securities, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper and totaled $346.9 million as of January 29, 2023.

We believe that our cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to fund our working capital, capital expenditure requirements, and contractual obligations for at least the next twelve months. In addition, we may choose to raise additional funds at any time through equity or debt financing arrangements, which may or may not be needed for additional working capital, capital expenditures or other strategic investments. Our opinions concerning liquidity are based on currently available information. To the extent this information proves to be inaccurate, or if circumstances change, future availability of trade credit or other sources of financing may be reduced and our liquidity could be adversely affected. Our future capital requirements and the adequacy of available funds will depend on many factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this 10-K Report. Depending on the severity and direct impact of these factors on us, we may be unable to secure additional financing to meet our operating requirements on terms favorable to us, or at all.

We have contractual obligations and other commitments that will need to be funded in the future, in addition to our working capital, capital expenditures and other strategic initiatives. Material contractual obligations generally relate to operating and real estate lease obligations.

Operating and real estate lease obligations relate to fulfillment and customer service centers, corporate offices and certain equipment under non-cancelable operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2034. Real estate obligations include legally binding minimum lease payments for operating lease arrangements which have not yet commenced. As of January 29, 2023, operating and real estate lease obligations included legally binding minimum lease payments of $877.5 million. For additional information related to real estate and operating leases, see Note 9 – Leases, in the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this 10-K Report.

2020 Equity Offering

During Fiscal Year 2020, we issued and sold 5,865,000 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $54.40 per share, raising $318.4 million in net proceeds after deducting offering costs of $0.6 million. For additional information, see Note 10 – Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit), in the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this 10-K Report.

Cash Flows

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities was $349.6 million for Fiscal Year 2022, which primarily consisted of $49.2 million of net income, non-cash adjustments such as depreciation and amortization expense of $83.3 million and share-based compensation expense of $158.1 million, and a cash increase of $27.2 million from the management of working capital. Cash increases from working capital were primarily driven by an increase in payables, partially offset by an increase in inventories and other current assets.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $191.7 million for Fiscal Year 2021, which primarily consisted of $73.8 million of net loss, non-cash adjustments such as depreciation and amortization expense of $55.0 million and share-based compensation expense of $77.8 million, and a cash increase of $141.7 million from the management of working capital. Cash increases from working capital were primarily driven by an increase in other current liabilities and payables, partially offset by an increase in inventories, receivables, and other current assets.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $615.5 million for Fiscal Year 2022, which primarily consisted of $343.8 million for the purchase of marketable securities, net of proceeds from maturities, $230.3 million of capital expenditures, and $40.0 million for cash paid for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired. Capital expenditures were related to the launch of new fulfillment centers, the launch and expansion of corporate offices, and the capitalization of labor and license costs associated with software development for internal use.

Net cash used in investing activities was $193.3 million for Fiscal Year 2021, which primarily consisted of $183.2 million of capital expenditures and $10.1 million for the acquisition of rights to developed technology intangible assets. Capital expenditures were related to the launch of new fulfillment centers, the launch and expansion of corporate offices, and the capitalization of labor and license costs associated with software development for internal use.

Financing activities

Net cash used in financing activities was $6.7 million for Fiscal Year 2022, which primarily consisted of $2.8 million of payments made pursuant to the tax sharing agreement with related parties, $2.5 million for payments of tax withholdings related to vesting of share-based compensation awards, payment of debt modification costs, and principal repayments of finance lease obligations.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $41.3 million for Fiscal Year 2021, which primarily consisted of $43.7 million received pursuant to the tax sharing agreement with related parties, partially offset by the payment of debt modification costs and principal repayments of finance lease obligations.

ABL Credit Facility

On January 26, 2023, we amended our senior secured asset-based credit facility (the “ABL Credit Facility”) which matures on August 27, 2026 and now provides for non-amortizing revolving loans in the aggregate principal amount of up to $800 million, subject to a borrowing base comprised of, among other things, inventory and sales receivables (subject to certain reserves). The ABL Credit Facility provides the right to request incremental commitments and add incremental asset-based revolving loan facilities up to $250 million, subject to customary conditions. We are required to pay a 0.25% per annum commitment fee with respect to the undrawn portion of the commitments, which is generally based on average daily usage of the facility. Based on our borrowing base as of January 29, 2023, which is reduced by standby letters of credit, we had $749.9 million of borrowing capacity under the ABL Credit Facility. As of January 29, 2023, we had no outstanding borrowings under the ABL Credit Facility.

For additional information with respect to our ABL Credit Facility, see Note 8 – Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this 10-K Report.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, net sales, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We believe that the estimates, assumptions and judgments involved in the accounting policies described below involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have the greatest potential impact on our financial condition and results of operations and, therefore, we consider these to be our critical accounting policies. Accordingly, we evaluate our estimates, assumptions, and judgments on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions, judgments, and conditions. See Note 2 – Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies, in the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this 10-K Report for a description of our significant accounting policies as well as a description of recently adopted accounting pronouncements and recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted as of the date of this 10-K Report.

Income Taxes

Estimates of deferred income taxes reflect management’s assessment of actual future taxes to be paid on items reflected in the consolidated financial statements, giving consideration to both timing and the probability of realization. Actual income taxes could vary from these estimates due to future changes in income tax law, state income tax apportionment or the outcome of any review of our tax returns by the IRS, as well as actual operating results that may vary significantly from anticipated results. For additional information on deferred tax assets and liabilities, see Item 8 of Part II, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”, Note 12 – Income Taxes.

Financial Instruments

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We have operations principally within the U.S. and therefore have only minimal foreign currency exposure. We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business, including the effects of interest rate changes. Information relating to quantitative and qualitative disclosures about these market risks is set forth below.

Interest Rate Risk

Our cash equivalents consist primarily of demand and money market accounts, U.S. Treasury securities, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper and have an original maturity date of 90 days or less. Our marketable securities consist primarily of investment grade short- to intermediate-term fixed-income securities, including U.S Treasury securities, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper and have an original maturity greater than 90 days and less than one year. The fair value of our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities would not be significantly affected by either an increase or decrease in interest rates due mainly to the short-term nature of these instruments. Any future borrowings incurred under our revolving credit facility will accrue interest at a floating rate based on a formula tied to certain market rates at the time of incurrence. A 10% increase or decrease in interest rates would not have a material effect on our interest income or expense.

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Chewy, Inc.:

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Chewy, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 29, 2023, and January 30, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, and stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows, for each of the years ended January 29, 2023, January 30, 2022, and January 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of January 29, 2023, and January 30, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years ended January 29, 2023, January 30, 2022, and January 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of January 29, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 22, 2023, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Vendor Rebates — Refer to Note 2 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company has agreements with vendors to primarily receive either percentage or volume-based rebates. Amounts received from vendors are considered a reduction of the carrying value of the Company’s inventory and, therefore, such amounts are ultimately recorded as a reduction of cost of goods sold in the consolidated statements of operations.

Given the significance of vendor rebates to the financial statements, the terms and the significant number of the individual vendor agreements, auditing vendor rebates was complex and subjective due to the extent of effort required to evaluate whether the vendor rebates were recorded in accordance with the terms of the vendor agreements and that the rebates deferred as a reduction of the carrying value of inventory were complete and accurate.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to evaluating whether the vendor rebates were recorded in accordance with the terms of the vendor agreements and the completeness and accuracy of deferred vendor rebates included the following, among others:

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

Tempe, Arizona

March 22, 2023

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2017.