This Quarterly Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company. You can find many of these statements by looking for words like “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “should,” “will,” “may,” “estimates” or similar expressions in this Quarterly Report or in documents incorporated by reference in this Quarterly Report. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. You should understand that the following important factors, in addition to those discussed elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended October 3, 2020, and January 3, 2021 and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 27, 2020, could affect the Company’s future results of operations, and could cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements: the scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on global economic systems, access to financial markets and the Company’s employees, operations, customers, and supply chain; competitive pressures among distributors of electronic components; an industry down-cycle in semiconductors; relationships with key suppliers and allocations of products by suppliers; risks relating to the Company’s international sales and operations, including risks relating to the ability to repatriate cash, foreign currency fluctuations, duties and taxes, and compliance with international and U.S. laws; risks relating to acquisitions, divestitures and investments; adverse effects on the Company’s supply chain, operations of its distribution centers, shipping costs, third-party service providers, customers and suppliers, including as a result of issues caused by natural and weather-related disasters, pandemics and health related crisis, social unrest or warehouse modernization and relocation efforts; risks related to cyber-attacks, other privacy and security incidents and information systems, including related to current or future implementations, integrations or upgrades; general economic and business conditions (domestic, foreign and global) affecting the Company’s operations and financial performance and, indirectly, the Company’s credit ratings, debt covenant compliance, and liquidity and access to financing; geopolitical events, including the uncertainty caused by the United Kingdom’s exit from, and agreement for a new partnership with, the European Union; and legislative or regulatory changes affecting the Company’s businesses.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which that statement is made. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which the statement is made.
Item 2. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
For a description of the Company’s critical accounting policies and an understanding of the significant factors that influenced the Company’s performance during the quarter ended April 3, 2021, this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, including the related notes, appearing in Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as well as the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended October 3, 2020, and January 2, 2021 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 27, 2020. The Company operates on a “52/53 week” fiscal year and fiscal 2021 contains 53 weeks compared to 52 weeks in fiscal 2020. As a result, the first nine months of fiscal 2021 ended April 3, 2021, contained 40 weeks and the first nine months of fiscal 2020 ended March 28, 2020 contained 39 weeks. This extra week in the first nine months of fiscal 2021, which occurred in the first quarter of fiscal 2021, impacts the year-over-year analysis in this MD&A.
There are references to the impact of foreign currency translation in the discussion of the Company’s results of operations. When the U.S. Dollar strengthens and the stronger exchange rates of the current year are used to translate the results of operations of Avnet’s subsidiaries denominated in foreign currencies, the resulting impact is a decrease in U.S. Dollars of reported results. Conversely, when the U.S. Dollar weakens and the weaker exchange rates of the current year are used to translate the results of operations of Avnet’s subsidiaries denominated in foreign currencies, the resulting impact is an increase in U.S. Dollars of reported results. In the discussion that follows, results excluding this impact, primarily for subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) and Asia/Pacific (“Asia”), are referred to as “constant currency.”