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for Tractor Supply
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Deferral Allowed for Tsc
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Agreement for Tractor Supply
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for Tractor Supply
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for Petsense
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Agreement for Petsense
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UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM i10-K
(Mark One)
i☒
ANNUAL
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(Exact name of registrant as specified in
its charter)
iDelaware
i13-3139732
(State
or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
i5401 Virginia Way, iBrentwood,
iTennessee
i37027
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Zip
Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code:
(i615) i440-4000
Securities
Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
Trading Symbol(s)
Name of each exchange on which registered
iCommon
Stock, $.008 par value
iTSCO
iNASDAQ Global Select Market
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
iYes☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes ☐iNo☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
iYes☑ No
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
iYes☑ No ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,”“accelerated filer,”“smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:
iLarge
accelerated filer
☑
Accelerated filer
☐
Non-accelerated filer
☐
Smaller reporting company
i☐
Emerging
growth company
i☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the
registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. i☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act.)
Yes i☐ No
☑
The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of the Common Stock on The NASDAQ Global Select Market on June 26, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $i17.2 billion. For
purposes of this response, the registrant has assumed that its directors, executive officers, and beneficial owners of 5% or more of its Common Stock are affiliates of the registrant.
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date.
This Form 10-K and statements included or incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K include certain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address activities, events, or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such things as future capital expenditures (including their amount and nature), business strategy, expansion, anticipated future performance and growth of our business operations and other such matters are forward-looking statements. To take advantage of the safe harbor provided by the Act, we are identifying certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, national, regional, and local economic conditions affecting consumer spending, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the efficacy and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the timing and acceptance of new
products, the timing and mix of goods sold, purchase price volatility (including inflationary and deflationary pressures), transportation costs, constraints in the supply chain affecting timing and availability of merchandise inventory, the ability to increase sales at existing stores or on our e-commerce platforms, the ability to manage growth and identify suitable locations, the ability to complete acquisitions on expected terms, failure of an acquisition to produce anticipated results, the ability to successfully manage expenses (including increased expenses as a result of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic) and to execute our key gross margin enhancing initiatives, the availability of favorable credit sources, capital market conditions in general, the ability to open new stores in the time, manner and number currently contemplated, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to open distribution centers in the anticipated timeframe and within
budget, the impact of new stores on our business, competition, including that from online competitors, weather conditions, the seasonal nature of our business, effective merchandising initiatives and marketing emphasis, the ability to retain vendors, reliance on foreign suppliers, the ability to attract, train, and retain qualified employees, increasing labor and benefit costs, our ability to meet our sustainability, stewardship, carbon emission, and diversity, equity, and inclusion ("DE&I") related environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") projections, goals, and commitments, product liability and other claims, changes in federal, state, or local regulations, the potential effects on our business of responses of government and public health authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic, the “shelter in place” and similar federal, state, and local regulations and protocols could have on our business, including our supply chain and employees, the effectiveness
of the Company’s responses to COVID-19, including our efforts to make a vaccine available to our employees, and customer response with respect to those actions, the refusal by our employees and the public generally to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the imposition of tariffs on imported products or the disallowance of tax deductions on imported products, potential judgments, fines, legal fees, and other costs, breach of information systems or theft of employee or customer data, ongoing and potential future legal or regulatory proceedings, management of our information systems, failure to develop and implement new technologies, the failure of customer-facing technology systems, business disruption including from the implementation of supply chain technologies, effective tax rate changes and results of examination by taxing authorities, the ability to maintain an effective system of internal
control over financial reporting, and changes in accounting standards, assumptions, and estimates, and those described in Item 1A. “Risk Factors.” Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and are based on our current expectations and projections about future events. We undertake no obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Tractor Supply Company (the “Company” or "Tractor Supply" or “we” or “our” or “us”) is the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States (“U.S.”). The Company is focused on supplying the needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle (which we refer to as the “Out Here” lifestyle). We operate retail stores under the names Tractor Supply Company, Petsense, and Del’s Feed & Farm Supply. Our stores are located primarily in towns outlying
major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. We also offer an expanded assortment of products through the Tractor Supply mobile application and online at TractorSupply.com andPetsense.com.
The Company has one reportable industry segment which is the retail sale of products that support the rural lifestyle. At December 25, 2021, we operated 2,181 retail stores in 49 states (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores). Our Tractor Supply stores typically range in size from 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of inside selling space, along with additional outside selling space, and our Petsense stores
have approximately 5,500 square feet of inside selling space. For Tractor Supply retail locations, we use a standard design for most new built-to-suit locations that includes approximately 15,500 square feet of inside selling space. Our online selling websites and our mobile application offer an extended assortment of products beyond those offered in-store and drive traffic into our stores through our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store programs. Our retail store locations and digital capabilities provide the convenience to allow our customers to engage with us anytime, anywhere and in any way they choose.
On February 17, 2021, the
Company announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Orscheln Farm and Home, LLC, a farm and ranch retailer with 167 retail stores in 11 states, in an all-cash transaction for approximately $320 million. The Company intends to fund the acquisition through cash-on-hand. The acquisition is conditioned on the receipt of regulatory clearance and the satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions within a specified timeframe.
Business Strategy for Tractor Supply Company
We believe our sales and earnings growth is the result of executing our multi-year strategy, which includes the following key components:
Market
Niche
We have identified a specialized market niche: supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle. By focusing our product assortment on these core customers, we believe we are differentiated from general merchandise, home center, and other specialty retailers. We cater to the rural lifestyle and often serve a market by being a trip consolidator for many basic maintenance needs for farm, ranch, and rural customers through convenient shopping options both in-store and online.
Customers
Our target customers are home, land, pet, and livestock owners who generally have above average income and below average cost of living. We seek to serve a customer
base that primarily lives in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. This customer base includes recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle. We have seen a continuation of shifting consumer behavior trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic as customers focused on the care of their homes, land, and animals, which resulted in a growing demand in everyday merchandise, including consumable, usable, and edible ("C.U.E.") products and seasonal categories.
Customer Service
We are committed to providing our customers reliable product availability and a convenient, customer-centric experience across shopping channels. In our stores, we believe the ability of our motivated, well-trained team members to provide friendly, responsive and seasoned advice
helps our customers find the right products to satisfy their everyday needs, as well as the specialty items needed to complete their rural lifestyle projects. We also engage with our customers through our e-commerce websites and mobile application, which provide the opportunity to allow customers to shop anytime, anywhere, and in any way
they choose, while delivering enhanced product information, research, and decision tools that support product selection and informational needs in specific subject areas. Additionally, we maintain a Customer Solutions
Center at our Store Support Center located in Brentwood, Tennessee, to support our in-store and online customers, as well as our store team members. We believe this commitment to customer service promotes strong customer loyalty through personalized experiences and provides convenience that our customers expect, which drives repeat shopping experiences.
We use a third-party provider to survey and measure our level of customer service. This process allows customers to provide feedback on their shopping experience. Based on the third-party provider’s data, we believe our customer satisfaction scores are among the best-in-class. We carefully evaluate the feedback we receive from our customers and implement improvements at both the Company and the individual store level based on that feedback.
Store
Environment
Our stores are designed and managed to make shopping an enjoyable experience and to maximize sales and operating efficiencies. Stores are strategically arranged to provide an open environment for optimal product placement and visual display. In addition, these layouts allow for departmental space to be easily reallocated and visual displays to be changed for seasonal products and promotions. Display and product placement information is routinely sent to stores to ensure quality and uniformity among the stores, and our Field Activity Support Teams ("FAST") are dedicated to support the stores in creating an enhanced in-store experience for our customers through best-in-class merchandising execution. Our store layouts and visual displays are designed to provide our customers a feeling of familiarity and convenience to enhance the shopping experience. Informative signs
are located in key product categories to conveniently assist customers with purchasing decisions and merchandise location. These signs provide customers with a comparison of product qualities, clear pricing, useful information regarding product benefits, and suggestions for appropriate accessories. Also, our store team members wear highly visible red vests or aprons with name tags, and our customer service and checkout counters are conveniently located near the front of the store. Our stores have been equipped with tools such as team member communication devices, wireless internet, and mobile point-of-sale devices that enable our team members to provide an enhanced shopping experience to our customers. In addition, our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store programs, including curbside pickup, provides convenient access for customers to pick up merchandise from our store locations.
We
are in the midst of a multi-year project that began in 2020 to remodel our existing store base, bringing programs to life with new fixtures, layouts and products that truly enhance the customer shopping experience. The site level space is analyzed category by category and reallocated as needed to align with current merchandising strategies and to drive space productivity. Another space productivity initiative is to transform our side lot with an expanded product offering and an enhanced shopping experience. With this investment, the side lots space is leveraged to offer a wider product offering in the lawn and garden categories and our new categories with the garden center, and offer greater convenience through the expansion of our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store capabilities for drive-thru pickup.
Merchandising and Purchasing
We
offer an extensive assortment of products for all those seeking to enjoy the “Out Here” lifestyle. Our product assortment is tailored to meet the needs of our customers in various geographic markets. Our full line of product offerings includes a broad selection of high quality, reputable brand name and exclusive brand products with approximately 16,000 to 22,000 products per store as well as over 170,000 products online. No single product accounted for more than 10% of our sales during fiscal 2021. Our comprehensive selection of merchandise is comprised of the following major product categories:
•Equine, livestock, pet, and small animal products, including items necessary for their health, care, growth, and containment (i.e. fencing);
•Hardware, truck,
towing, and tool products;
•Seasonal products, including heating, lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys;
•Work/recreational clothing and footwear; and
•Maintenance products for agricultural and rural use.
The following table indicates the percentage of net sales represented by each of our major product categories during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019:
Percent
of Net Sales
Fiscal Year
Product Category:
2021
2020
2019
Livestock and Pet
47
%
47
%
47
%
Hardware, Tools and Truck
21
21
21
Seasonal,
Gift and Toy Products
21
21
20
Clothing and Footwear
8
7
8
Agriculture
3
4
4
Total
100
%
100
%
100
%
Our
buying team continuously reviews and updates our product assortment as necessary to respond to customer needs and to offer new, relevant products. We are focused on providing key products that our customers use on a regular basis for their lifestyle and maintenance needs with emphasis on consumable, usable, and edible ("C.U.E.") products. Examples of C.U.E. product categories include, but are not limited to, livestock feed and bedding, pet food, bird seed, lubricants, propane, and various seasonal products, such as fertilizer, weed control, mulch, pest control, and twine.
Our products are sourced through both domestic and international vendors, each of whom are expected to adhere to a code of conduct that guides our relationship. Our business is not dependent upon any single vendor or particular group of vendors. We purchase our products from a group of approximately 975 vendors,
with no one vendor representing more than 10% of our purchases during fiscal 2021. Approximately 375 core vendors accounted for 90% of our merchandise purchases during fiscal 2021. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the fluctuation of customer demands for certain products as well as global supply chain disruptions and delays, we have not experienced any significant difficulty in obtaining satisfactory alternative sources of supply for our products to meet customer demands. We believe that adequate sources of supply exist, but they may cost more or require us to incur higher transportation costs.
Our buying teams focus on merchandise procurement, vendor line reviews, and testing of new products and programs. We also employ a dedicated inventory management team that focuses exclusively on forecasting and inventory replenishment, a committed merchandise planning team that concentrates
on assortment planning, and a specialized pricing team that seeks to optimize market-specific pricing for our products. Through the combined efforts of these teams, we continue to focus on improving our overall inventory productivity and in-stock inventory position.
Intellectual Property
Our subsidiary, Tractor Supply Co. of Texas, LP (“TSCT”), owns registrations with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for various service marks including TSC®, Tractor Supply Co.®, TSC Tractor Supply Co.®, and the trapezium design for retail services. We consider these service marks, and the
accompanying goodwill and name recognition, to be valuable assets of our business. TSCT also owns several other service marks for retail services, some of which have been registered with the USPTO and some of which are the subject of applications for registration pending before the USPTO.
In addition to selling products that bear nationally-known manufacturer brands, we also sell products manufactured for us under a number of exclusive brands that we consider to be important to our business. These exclusive brands are manufactured for us by a number of vendors and provide an alternative to the national brands, which helps provide value for our customers and positions us as a destination retailer.
Our
exclusive brands represented approximately 29% of our total sales in fiscal 2021 and 2020 and 31% of our total sales in fiscal 2019. Our exclusive brands include:
4health® (pet foods and supplies)
Producer’s Pride® (livestock and horse feed and supplies)
American Farmworks® (livestock, farm and ranch
Red Shed® (gifts, collectibles, and outdoor furniture)
equipment)
Bit & Bridle® (apparel and footwear)
Redstone® (heating products)
Blue Mountain® (apparel)
Retriever® (pet foods and supplies)
C.E. Schmidt® (apparel and footwear)
Ridgecut® (apparel)
Countyline® (livestock, farm and ranch equipment)
Royal Wing® (bird feed and supplies)
Dumor® (livestock and horse feed and supplies)
Strive® (pet food)
Groundwork® (lawn and garden supplies)
Traveller® (truck and automotive products)
Huskee® (outdoor power equipment)
Treeline® (hunting gear and accessories)
JobSmart® (tools)
TSC Tractor Supply Co® (trailers, truck tool
boxes, and animal
bedding)
Paws & Claws® (pet foods and supplies)
Untamed® (pet foods)
The exclusive brands identified above have been registered as trademarks with the USPTO for certain products and some are the subject of additional applications for registration pending before the USPTO for other products.
Our trademark and service mark registrations have various expiration dates;
however, provided that we continue to use the marks and file appropriate maintenance and renewal documentation with the USPTO in a timely manner, the registrations are potentially perpetual in duration. Our patents (both United States and foreign) have expiration dates ranging from March 2024 to December 2045 and protect various elements, designs or functions of farm and ranch equipment, as well as light systems for trucks and other vehicles.
We believe our intellectual property, which includes the trademarks and service marks identified above, together with certain trade names, domain names, patents, and copyrights, has significant value and is an important component of our merchandising and marketing strategies.
Distribution
We
currently operate a distribution facility network for supplying stores with merchandise and delivering product ordered through our websites and mobile application. In fiscal 2021, our Tractor Supply stores received approximately 76% of merchandise through this network while the remaining merchandise shipped directly from our vendors to our stores or customers. We believe this flow facilitates the prompt and efficient distribution of merchandise that allows us to be a dependable supplier to our customers for their "Out Here" lifestyle solutions by enhancing in-stock inventory positions, while minimizing freight expense and improving the inventory turn rate. Our distribution facilities, located in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Texas, and Washington represent a
total distribution center capacity of 6.1 million square feet. We also use third-party operated import centers, mixing centers and pop-up distribution facilities which provide additional distribution capacity.
The Company is building a new distribution center in Navarre, Ohio, which is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet and is currently anticipated to be completed in the fall of fiscal 2022.
In addition, on January 26, 2022, the Company announced plans to build a new distribution center in Maumelle, Arkansas. This new distribution center is expected to be approximately 900,000
square feet. Construction is planned to begin in the middle of 2022 and is currently anticipated to be completed in late 2023.
We select the locations of our distribution facilities in an effort to minimize logistics costs and optimize the distance from distribution facilities to our stores. Our distribution centers utilize warehouse and labor management tools that support the planning, control, and processing of inventory. We manage our inbound and outbound transportation activity in-house through the use of a transportation management system. We utilize multiple common carriers for store and direct to customer
deliveries. We
manage our transportation costs through carrier negotiations, monitoring of transportation routes, and scheduling of deliveries.
Marketing
We utilize an “everyday low price” philosophy to consistently offer our products at competitive prices complemented by strategically planned promotions throughout the year. To drive store traffic and position ourselves as a destination retailer, we promote a broad selection of merchandise through various digital and social media initiatives, television, newspaper circulars, and customer-targeted direct e-mail and direct mail, as well as limited use of radio and other media channels. In addition, our Neighbor’s Club loyalty program enhances our ability to engage with our customers, recognize and reward our best customers, drive desired
behaviors, and create brand advocacy. Vendors frequently support these specific programs by offering temporary cost reductions, additional funding, and honoring coupons. Our vendors also provide assistance with product presentation and fixture design, brochures, support for in-store events, point-of-purchase materials for customer education, and product knowledge for our team members.
Omni-Channel
Ensuring that our customers can engage with us in the most convenient manner for them whether in our stores, on our website, on our mobile application, or via our Customer Solutions Center, is a high priority for us. Our goal is to be available
anytime, anywhere, and in any way our customers choose to engage with our brand. We provide our customers the opportunity to shop in a manner that fits their lifestyle and is most convenient for them. Our focus is on delivering a comprehensive, seamless omni-channel shopping experience offering the conveniences our customers want and expect. We offer buy online, pickup in-store, and curbside pickup, which provides convenient access for customers to pick up merchandise from our store locations. Additionally, our online experience offers an expansive product assortment including a direct to consumer assortment. This allows us to extend our aisles beyond our store locations and provides convenient and useful content that is relevant to our customers’ lifestyle. We provide our customers the ability to have products shipped directly to our retail store locations or to their homes or offices. For select products, we offer same day delivery. We use our distribution facility
network as well as our stores to support our e-commerce activities. Our digital capabilities have further enhanced our in-store shopping experience, allowing us to engage with our customers more effectively, and expanded our target markets outside of our current retail store locations.
Continuous Improvement
We are committed to a continuous improvement program to drive change throughout our organization. Using data analytics and team member engagement, we examine business processes and identify opportunities to reduce costs, drive innovation, and improve effectiveness. We establish goals for productivity and cost improvement. We have implemented numerous continuous improvement projects, with team members from multiple areas of our business, to evaluate key operations and implement process change. Team
members are empowered and expected to challenge current paradigms and improve processes. Management encourages the participation of all team members in the decision-making process, regularly solicits input and suggestions from our team members, and incorporates suggestions into our improvement activities.
Management Information and Control Systems
We have invested resources in management information and control systems to provide legendary customer service and to deliver the right products in the right place at the right time. This investment includes use of digital technologies that support the "Out Here" lifestyle and integrate the customer experience in-store, online, and through our Customer Solutions Center, which offers customers the ability
to shop anytime, anywhere, and in any way they choose. Our key platforms include:
•Point-of-sale system;
•In-store mobility;
•E-commerce platform;
•Consumer mobile app;
•Replenishment and allocation systems;
•Merchandising presentation and inventory management tools;
•Warehouse and transportation management systems;
•Labor management tools for stores and supply chain;
These systems are integrated through an enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. This ERP system tracks merchandise from initial order through ultimate sale and interfaces with our financial systems.
We
continue to invest in technology to support store, online, and distribution facility expansion and our long-term strategic growth initiatives focused heavily on improving the customer experience across all channels. We also continue to evaluate and improve the functionality of our systems to maximize their effectiveness. Such efforts include ongoing hardware and software evaluations, refreshes, and upgrades to support optimal software configurations, and application performance. We plan to continue to invest in information technology and implement efficiency-driving system enhancements such as in-store mobility, labor management tools, and back-office support systems. We will continue to evaluate the use of technologies to improve productivity such as artificial intelligence, automation software, quantum computing, and other technologies. We also maintain and continue to strengthen the security of our information systems
to help protect and prevent unauthorized access to personal information of our customers, employees, vendors, and other confidential Company data. We are endeavoring to adhere to quickly evolving industry privacy laws and standards. Critical areas of focus include cloud, end point protection and privacy. Collectively, these efforts are directed toward improving business processes, maintaining secure, efficient, and stable systems, and enabling the continued growth and success of our business.
Petsense
Petsense is a small-box pet specialty supply retailer focused on meeting the needs of pet owners, primarily in small and mid-sized communities, and offering a variety of pet products and services. At December 25, 2021, we operated a total of 178 Petsense
stores in 23 states, with approximately 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time team members, and an e-commerce website (Petsense.com). The Petsense name is registered with the USPTO.
Human Capital
We believe that our team members are the foundation of our business and that their hard work, passion, commitment, and experience drive our success. As a result of our commitment to our team members, in both 2021 and 2020, we were recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute as a "Great Place to Work-Certified"company and were included in Forbes’ 2021 "America’s Best Employers
for New Graduates" list for the second year in a row. Below are further descriptions of our Company and our focus on the development and support of our team members:
Management and Team Members
As of December 25, 2021, we employed approximately 22,000 full-time and 24,000 part-time Tractor Supply team members. We typically employ additional part-time team members throughout the year during high sales volume periods. We are not party to any collective bargaining agreements.
Our store operations are divided between east and west
divisions, and each division is overseen by a senior vice president. The divisions are organized into regions, each of which is led by a regional vice president. The region is further organized into districts, each of which is led by a district manager. We have two internal advisory boards, one comprised of store managers and the other comprised of district managers. These groups bring a grassroots perspective to operational initiatives and generate chain-wide endorsement of proposed best-practice solutions.
Eligible team members can participate in one of our various bonus incentive programs, which provide the opportunity to receive additional compensation based upon individual, team, and/or Company performance. In addition to bonus incentive programs, we provide our eligible team members the opportunity to participate in an employee stock purchase plan and a 401(k) retirement savings
plan and health insurance for which we share a significant portion of the cost of premiums. We additionally provide our eligible team members with paid time off and a six-week parental leave policy for new parents. Our team members also receive a discount on merchandise purchased from the Company.
We continue to make wage investments to offer our team members competitive compensation. On an annualized basis in 2021, we invested an additional $40 million in hourly store team members as a result of our increases in the minimum wage paid to team members.
We encourage a promote-from-within environment when internal resources permit. We also provide internal leadership
development programs designed to prepare our high-potential team members for greater responsibility. Our current team of
district managers and store managers has an average tenure of approximately nine and six years, respectively. We believe internal promotions, coupled with the hiring of individuals with previous retail experience, provide the management structure necessary to support our long-term strategic growth initiatives.
Store Personnel and Training
We
seek to hire store team members who live and appreciate the "Out Here" lifestyle, including those with farming and ranching backgrounds, with particular emphasis on general maintenance, equine, and welding. We endeavor to staff our stores with courteous, highly motivated team members and devote considerable resources to training store team members, often in cooperation with our vendors. Our training programs include:
•A thorough on-boarding process to prepare new team members for their new role;
•Productive workplace environment training that is intended to educate team members on Company policies and procedures covering topics such as harassment, discrimination, and retaliation;
•Diversity
and inclusion training which is intended to advance a diverse and inclusive culture built on one of our core values of respect, to foster different perspectives, ideas and innovative thinking;
•New store opening training that prepares our store managers to open new stores to Company standards;
•A management training program which covers all aspects of our store operations, delivering superior service, and managing the team member experience;
•Structured training on customer service and selling skills;
•Online product knowledge training produced in conjunction with key vendors;
•Leadership development programs that prepare leaders to
expand their current contributions;
•Quarterly all store team member meetings; and
•An annual store manager meeting with vendor product presentations.
Workplace Health and Safety
We strive to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all team members and drive a culture of safe practices and continuous improvement. We provide role based safety training during the onboarding process and through other specific safety programs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented enhanced cleaning standards, adapted to the evolving public health guidance in our workplaces, and provided training and education to our team members. We implemented a vaccination incentive program, provided paid
time off to receive vaccinations, and held onsite vaccination clinics for our team members among other COVID-19 mitigation practices. We continually monitor and adapt our safety practices as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
COVID-19 Response
The Company has been and continues to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all facets of our business. This includes the impact on our team members, customers, suppliers, vendors, business partners, and supply chain networks.
The health and safety of our team members and customers are the primary concerns of our management team. We have taken and continue to take numerous actions to promote
health and safety, including, encouraging vaccination efforts, providing personal protective equipment to our team members, following local and federal guidance regarding the use of masks in our facilities, maintaining enhanced services for cleaning and sanitation, continuing to provide additional functionality to support contactless shopping experiences, promoting social distancing and cleaning actions in our stores, and continuing to offer remote work plans at our Store Support Center.
Additionally, we continue to support our team members during this pandemic through offering COVID-19 paid medical leave, 100% coverage of COVID-19 testing and treatment under our medical plan.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DE&I")
Tractor
Supply is committed to DE&I. We have built a strong and diverse team by purposefully seeking highly qualified diverse candidates with different backgrounds, experience, perspectives, ideas and skill sets. As we move forward, we are working to implement new DE&I initiatives that will result in an even more diverse team across the entire company.
We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive culture supported by our Mission & Values where we welcome diverse backgrounds and experiences and respectfully foster different perspectives, ideas and innovative thinking. We are stronger together, and we believe in the
authenticity our team members bring to work every day. By focusing on our team members, we know that our customers, communities and suppliers will be well served. Diversity and inclusion play a key role in moving our business forward. Our workforce is approximately 51% male and 49% female. Minorities comprise approximately 17% of our workforce. Women serve in key leadership roles within the Company, including as Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Public Relations, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of E-Commerce. We have taken several steps over the past twelve months to further enhance our diversity and inclusion strategy including publishing external DE&I goals aligned with our environmental,
social, and governance ("ESG") efforts, enhancing our DE&I Strategy to include supplier diversity efforts, establishing our DE&I Customer Promise and continuing activation of our numerous team member engagement groups supporting the development, community involvement and allyship within our Company. We will continue to build on these initiatives to enhance our culture of respect and teamwork across our organization.
Growth Strategy
Tractor Supply believes we can grow our business by being an integral part of our customers’ lives as the dependable supplier of "Out Here" lifestyle solutions, creating customer loyalty through personalized experiences,
our Neighbor's Club loyalty program and providing convenience that our customers expect at anytime, anywhere, and in any way they choose. Our long-term growth strategy is to: (1) expand and deepen our customer base by providing personal, localized, and memorable customer engagements by leveraging content, social media, and digital shopping experiences, attracting new customers and driving loyalty, (2) evolve customer experiences by digitizing our business processes and furthering our omni-channel capabilities, (3) offer relevant assortments and services across all channels through exclusive and national brands and continue to grow our total addressable market by introducing new products and services through our test and learn strategy, (4) drive operational excellence and productivity through continuous improvement, increasing space utilization, and implementing advanced supply chain capabilities to support growth, scale and agility, and (5) expand through selective
acquisitions, as such opportunities arise, to add complementary businesses and to enhance penetration into new and existing markets to supplement organic growth.
Achieving this strategy will require a foundational focus on: (1) connecting, empowering and growing our team to enhance our team members' lives and the communities in which they live, enabling them to provide legendary service to our customers, and (2) allocating resources in a disciplined and efficient manner to drive profitable growth and build stockholder value, including leveraging technology and automation to align our cost structure to support new business capabilities for margin improvement and cost reductions.
Over the past five years, we have experienced considerable sales growth, resulting in a compounded annual growth rate of approximately
13.4%. We plan to open approximately 75 to 80 new Tractor Supply and 10 new Petsense stores in fiscal 2022, a selling square footage increase of approximately 4%. In fiscal 2021, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores and seven new Petsense stores. In fiscal 2020, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores and nine new Petsense stores. This represents a selling square footage increase of approximately 4% during each of fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.
At December 25, 2021, we operated 2,181 retail stores in 49 states (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores). Given the size of the communities that we target, we believe that there is ample opportunity for new store growth in many existing and new markets. We believe we have developed a proven method for selecting store sites and we believe we have significant
additional opportunities for new Tractor Supply stores. We also believe that there is opportunity for continued growth for Petsense stores.
Approximately 57% of our stores are in freestanding buildings and 43% are located in shopping centers. We lease approximately 95% of our stores and own the remaining 5%.
In addition to new store expansion, we will continue to support our strategic growth through expansion of our distribution network and initiatives including, among others, space productivity and side lot improvements in certain existing stores as well as continued improvements in technology and infrastructure at our existing stores, and ongoing investments to enhance our digital and omni-channel capabilities to better serve our customers.
We
operate in a competitive retail industry. We believe the principal competitive factors include location of stores, fulfillment options, price, quality of merchandise, in-stock inventory consistency, merchandise assortment and presentation, product knowledge, and customer service. We compete with general merchandise retailers, home center retailers, pet retailers, specialty and discount retailers, independently owned retail farm and ranch stores, numerous privately-held regional farm store chains and farm cooperatives, as well as internet-based retailers. However, we believe we successfully differentiate ourselves from many of these retailers by focusing on our specialized market niche for customers living the rural lifestyle. See further discussion of competition in 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Seasonality and Weather
Our
business is seasonal. Historically, our sales and profits are the highest in the second and fourth fiscal quarters due to the sale of seasonal products. We usually experience our highest inventory and accounts payable balances during our first fiscal quarter for purchases of seasonal products to support the higher sales volume of the spring selling season, and again during our third fiscal quarter to support the higher sales volume of the cold-weather selling season. We believe that our business can be more accurately assessed by focusing on the performance of the halves, not the quarters, due to the fact that different weather patterns from year-to-year can shift the timing of sales and profits between quarters, particularly between the first and second fiscal quarters and the third and fourth fiscal quarters.
Historically, weather conditions, including unseasonably warm weather
in the fall and winter months and unseasonably cool weather in the spring and summer months, have unfavorably affected the timing and volume of our sales and results of operations. In addition, extreme weather conditions, including snow and ice storms, flood and wind damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme rain, and droughts have impacted operating results both negatively and positively, depending on the severity and length of these conditions. Our strategy is to manage product flow and adjust merchandise assortments and depth of inventory to capitalize on seasonal demand trends.
Stewardship and Compliance with Environmental Matters
Our operations are subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations, enacted or adopted, regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating
to the protection of the environment. We are committed to complying with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. We are also committed to becoming a more environmentally sustainable company. This commitment is demonstrated through our Stewardship Program, which is our environmental sustainability program. Through this program, the Company has implemented a number of initiatives designed to reduce our impact on the environment. These initiatives include the installation of energy management systems, LED lighting, high efficiency heating/air conditioning systems, and recycling programs in our stores, distribution facilities, and Store Support Center. Our Store Support Center and our distribution centers in Casa Grande, Arizona, and Frankfort, New York, are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified for environmentally sustainable design, construction,
and operation. We also installed solar arrays at the Store Support Center in Brentwood, Tennessee, and our Tractor Supply store in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
The Company has been a SmartWay Transport partner since 2013. SmartWay Transport is a public-private initiative between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, large and small trucking companies, retailers, and other federal and state agencies. Its purpose is to improve fuel efficiency and the environmental performance (reduction of both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution) of supply chains.
In December 2018, we announced a goal to reduce carbon emissions from our facilities by 25% by 2025 from our 2015 baseline as part of the
Company's Stewardship Program. In December 2020, we announced that we had reached this goal five years early.
In December 2021, we released our 2020 Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Report, following the announcement of our goal in September 2021 to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero missions across all operations by 2040. In the report, we discussed our approach to evaluating and managing climate change risks and identifying opportunities. We also detailed the next phase of our sustainability journey, including increasing efforts to procure renewable energy, continuing investments in energy efficiency and cleaner technologies, avoiding future emissions through better design of both stores and distribution centers, and enhancing our Scope 3 focus with greater transparency and reduction efforts, including new vendor engagement to drive
down value chain emissions.
Additional information can be found in our ESG Tear Sheet and on our website(TractorSupply.com). The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference unless such information is otherwise specifically referenced
elsewhere in this report.
Information about our Executive Officers
Pursuant to General Instruction G(3) of Form 10-K, the following list is included in Part I of this Report in lieu of being included in the Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022.
The following is a list of the names and ages of all executive officers of the registrant, indicating all positions and offices with the registrant held by each such person and each person’s principal occupations and employment
during at least the past five years:
Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer
and Treasurer
50
Robert D. Mills
Executive Vice President – Chief Technology, Digital Commerce and Strategy Officer
49
John P. Ordus
Executive Vice President – Chief Stores Officer
46
Jonathan S. Estep
Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer
42
Melissa D. Kersey
Executive Vice President – Chief Human Resources
Officer
47
Colin W. Yankee
Executive Vice President – Chief Supply Chain Officer
44
Noni L. Ellison
Senior Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
50
Christi C. Korzekwa
Senior Vice President – Chief Marketing Officer
56
Matthew L. Rubin
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petsense
42
Harry
A. Lawton, III was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer on January 13, 2020. Mr. Lawton served as President of Macy's, Inc. from September 2017 to December 2019. Prior to that time, Mr. Lawton served as Senior Vice President, North America at eBay, Inc. since May 2015. Mr. Lawton previously held a number of leadership positions at Home Depot, Inc. from 2005 to 2015, including Senior Vice President of Merchandising and head of Home Depot's online business. Since January 2019, Mr. Lawton has served as a director of Sealed Air Corporation and previously served as a director of Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. from October 2016 to February 2018.
Kurt D. Barton was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in February
2019, after having served as Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since March 2017. Prior to that time, Mr. Barton served as Senior Vice President – Controller of the Company since February 2016. Mr. Barton previously served as Vice President – Controller of the Company from February 2009, after having served as the Company's Director, Internal Audit from July 2002 to February 2009. Mr. Barton has served in various other leadership roles in accounting since he joined the Company in 1999. Mr. Barton, a Certified Public Accountant, began his career in public accounting in 1993, spending six years at Ernst &
Young, LLP.
Robert D. Mills has served as Executive Vice President – Chief Technology, Digital Commerce and Strategy Officer since August 2018, prior to which he served as the Company's Senior Vice President – Chief Information Officer since February 2014. Mr. Mills previously served as Chief Information Officer for Ulta Beauty, Inc. from October 2011 until he joined the Company. From 2005 to 2011, Mr. Mills was Vice President, Chief Information Officer for the online business unit at Sears Holdings Corporation where he began as an Information Technology Customer Relationship Leader in 2001. Prior to 2001, Mr. Mills held roles at The Allstate Corporation, Rockwell International, Telecommunications Division, and Household
Finance Corporation. Since March 2018, Mr. Mills has served as a director of B&G Foods, Inc.
John P. Ordus was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Stores Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President - Store Operations since August 2015. Prior to that time, Mr. Ordus served as Regional Vice President for the Company from June 2010 and as a Regional Director for the Company since September 2008. Mr. Ordus joined the Company as a District Manager in February 2002 after the acquisition of Quality Farm
& Fleet, Inc. with which Mr. Ordus held roles since January 1988.
Jonathan S. Estep was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President, General Merchandising since April 2017. Prior to that time, Mr. Estep served the Company as a Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager from February 2014. Mr. Estep also previously served in various other leadership roles in merchandising since he re-joined the Company in January 2008.
Melissa
D. Kersey was appointed as Executive Vice President – Chief Human Resources Officer on July 20, 2020. Ms. Kersey was previously Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for McDonald's USA, LLC from 2017 until July 2020. Ms. Kersey also previously held a number of executive level roles with Walmart Inc. (previously Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) from 2008 to 2017, including Senior Vice President of Global Human Resource Transformation and People Services, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for U.S. Stores, and Senior Vice President of Learning and Human Resources Strategy. Prior to that time, Ms. Kersey spent eight years with Alltel Wireless and four years with the Target Corporation in Operations, Distribution, Human Resources and Technology roles.
Colin W. Yankee was promoted to Executive Vice President - Chief Supply
Chain Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President, Supply Chain since November 2015 when he joined the Company. Mr. Yankee was previously Vice President of Logistics for Neiman Marcus Group LLC from 2013 to 2015. Prior to that time, Mr. Yankee held various leadership roles in logistics and supply chain with the Target Corporation since 2004. He began his career as a Cavalry Officer, Captain in the United States Army.
Noni L. Ellison was appointed as Senior Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary on January 11, 2021. Ms. Ellison was previously General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary for
Carestream Dental LLC from August 2017 until January 2021. Ms. Ellison also previously served as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at W.W. Grainger, Inc. from February 2015 until July 2017. Prior to that time, Ms. Ellison held roles of increasing responsibility at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. and practiced law with two national law firms as a corporate finance and securities associate.
Christi C. Korzekwa was promoted to Senior Vice President - Chief Marketing Officer in February 2022, after having served as Senior Vice President – Marketing since February 2015. Ms. Korzekwa previously served as Vice President, Marketing since she joined the Company in February 2012. Prior to joining the
Company, Ms. Korzekwa served as Senior Vice President, Director of Client Services for Blue Sky Agency. She worked for Home Depot, Inc. from 2004 to 2011 in roles of increasing importance in marketing and advertising, most recently as Senior Director, Marketing. Before joining Home Depot, Inc., Ms. Korzekwa spent 17 years with TM Advertising, LLC, most recently serving as their Senior Vice President, Global Media Director.
Matthew L. Rubin was appointed Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petsense on February 1, 2021. Mr. Rubin previously served as Senior Vice President of Business Development & Growth at The Michaels Stores, Inc. from October 2018 until January 2021. Mr. Rubin was previously an executive in Accenture plc's North America Retail Practice from April 2015 to October 2018. Before April 2015, Mr. Rubin was
a Partner at Consolidated Venture Partners & Consolidated Marketing and a Co-Founder & Finance Partner at OnTrend Products. Mr. Rubin also previously served as Vice President of Specialty Business Operations at BJ’s Wholesale Club Holding, Inc.. Mr. Rubin began his career at Office Depot, Inc. where he had multiple merchandising and strategic project leadership roles of increasing responsibility.
Additional Information
We file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other reports as required. We are an electronic filer and the SEC maintains an Internet website
at sec.gov that contains the reports, proxy and information statements, and other information we file.
We make available, free of charge through our Internet website, TractorSupply.com, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated
by reference unless such information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.
Our business faces many risks. Certain risks of which we are currently aware and deem to be material are described below. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risk factors occur, our business, financial condition or results of
operations may significantly suffer, and the trading price of our common stock could decline. These risk factors should be read in conjunction with the other information in this Form 10-K.
Strategic and Competitive Risks
Failure to protect our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our brand name or any of our exclusive brands.
Our success depends in part on the value and strength of the Tractor Supply name, including our exclusive brands. The Tractor Supply name is integral to our business, as well as to the implementation of our strategies for expanding our business. Maintaining, promoting, and positioning our brand will depend largely on the success of our marketing and merchandising efforts and our
ability to provide high quality merchandise and a consistent, high quality customer experience. Our brand could be adversely affected if we fail to achieve these objectives or if our public image or reputation were to be tarnished by negative publicity, whether or not based on fact. Any failure to comply or accusation of our 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. Customers are also increasingly using social media to provide feedback and information about our Company, including our products and services, in a manner that can be quickly and broadly disseminated. Further, adverse publicity about our merchandise products, whether valid or not, may discourage consumers from buying the products we offer. Additionally, our proprietary rights
in our trademarks, trade names, service marks, domain names, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights are valuable assets of our business. We may not be able to prevent or even discover every instance of unauthorized third party uses of our intellectual property or dilution of our brand names, such as when a third party uses trademarks that are identical or similar to our own. Any of these events could result in decreased revenue or otherwise adversely affect our business.
We may be unable to increase sales at our existing stores.
We experience fluctuations in our comparable store sales at our existing stores, defined as sales in stores which have been open for at least twelve months. See Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations" for a further discussion of comparable store sales. Various factors affect the comparable store sales at our existing stores, including, among others, the general retail sales environment, our ability to efficiently source and distribute products, global supply chain disruptions, changes in our merchandise assortment, competition, proximity of our locations to one another or to the locations of other competing retailers, increased presence of online retailers, current economic conditions, customer satisfaction with our products, retail pricing, the timing of promotional events, the release of new merchandise, the success of marketing programs, weather conditions, and our ability to attract and retain qualified team members. These factors may cause the comparable store sales results at our existing stores to differ materially from prior periods and from expectations. Past comparable store sales are not an indication of future results, and there can
be no assurance that our comparable store sales will not decrease in the future.
Furthermore, the significant positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for our products in fiscal 2021 and 2020 resulted in a significant increase in new or reacquired customers and in comparable store sales growth. Our sales performance in fiscal 2021 and 2020 may present a greater risk to our ability to increase comparable store sales in the following year(s) and in our ability to maintain our new or reacquired customers gained in those years. Therefore, we may not be able to sustain or increase our comparable store sales in fiscal 2022 and beyond.
Failure to open and manage new stores in the number and manner currently contemplated could adversely affect our financial performance.
An
integral part of our business strategy includes the expansion of our store base through new store openings. This expansion strategy is dependent on our ability to find suitable locations, and we face competition from many retailers and other businesses for such sites. If we are unable to implement this strategy, our ability to increase our sales, profitability, and cash flow could be impaired significantly. To the extent that we are unable to open new stores in the manner we anticipate (due to, among other reasons, site approval or unforeseen delays in construction), our sales growth may be impeded.
Although we have a rigorous real estate site selection and approval process, there can be no assurance that our new store openings will be successful or result in incremental sales and profitability for the
Company. New stores build their sales volumes and refine their merchandise selection over time and, as a result, generally have lower gross margins and higher
operating expenses as a percentage of net sales than our more mature stores. As we continue to open new stores, there may be a negative impact on our results from a lower contribution margin of these new stores until their sales levels ramp to chain average, if at all, as well as from the impact of related pre-opening costs. Additionally, new stores can also impact the sales and contribution margins of existing stores located in close proximity.
As
we execute this expansion strategy, we may also experience managerial or operational challenges which may prevent any expected increase in sales, profitability, or cash flow. Our ability to manage our planned expansion depends on the adequacy of our existing information systems, the efficiency and expansion of our distribution systems, the adequacy of the hiring and training process for new personnel (especially store managers), the effectiveness of our controls and procedures, and the ability to identify customer demand and build market awareness in different geographic areas. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve our planned expansion, that the new stores will be effectively integrated into our existing operations or that such stores will be profitable.
Our merchandising and marketing initiatives may not provide expected results.
We
believe our past performance has been based on, and future success will depend, in part, upon the ability to develop and execute merchandising initiatives with effective marketing programs. These merchandising initiatives and marketing programs may not deliver expected results, and there is no assurance that we will correctly identify and respond in a timely manner to evolving trends and consumer preferences and expectations. If we misjudge the market or our marketing programs are not successful, we may overstock unpopular products and be forced to take inventory impairment or retail price reductions that have a material adverse effect on our profitability. Failure to execute and promote such initiatives in a timely manner could harm our ability to grow the business and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Shortages of key merchandise could also have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results
of operations.
Competition may hinder our ability to execute our business strategy and adversely affect our operations.
We operate in the highly competitive retail merchandise sector with numerous competitors. These competitors include general merchandise retailers, home center retailers, pet retailers, specialty and discount retailers, independently-owned retail farm and ranch stores, numerous privately-held regional farm store chains, and farm cooperatives, as well as internet-based retailers. We compete for customers, merchandise, real estate locations, and employees. This competitive environment subjects us to various other risks, including the inability to continue our store and sales growth and to provide attractive merchandise to our customers at competitive prices that allow us to maintain
our profitability. Our failure to compete effectively in this environment could adversely impact our financial performance.
We may pursue strategic acquisitions and the failure of an acquisition to produce the anticipated results or the inability to fully integrate the acquired companies could have an adverse impact on our business.
We may, from time to time, acquire businesses we believe to be complementary to our business, for example, the pending acquisition of Orscheln Farm and Home, LLC discussed previously. The success of an acquisition is based on our ability to make accurate assumptions regarding the valuation, operations, growth potential, integration, and other factors relating to the target business. Acquisitions may result in difficulties in assimilating acquired companies and may result
in the diversion of our capital and our management’s attention from other business issues and opportunities. We may not be able to successfully integrate an organization that we acquire, including their personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations, and general operating procedures. If we fail to successfully integrate acquisitions, we could experience increased costs associated with operating inefficiencies which could have an adverse effect on our financial results. Also, while we employ several different methodologies to assess potential business opportunities, acquired businesses may not achieve desired profitability objectives or other expectations, causing lower than expected earnings and cash flows which could adversely affect our financial performance and subsequently require impairment of long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets.
Weather and Climate
Risks
Unseasonal and extreme weather may have a significant impact on our financial results.
Weather conditions affect the demand for, and in some cases the supply of, products, which in turn has an impact on prices. Historically, weather conditions, including unseasonably warm weather in the fall and winter months and unseasonably cool weather in the spring and summer months, have affected the timing and volume of our sales and results of operations. In addition, extreme weather conditions, such as more frequent or intense hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, flood, fires,
droughts,
and snow or ice storms, as well as rising sea levels, have impacted operating results both positively and negatively and may positively or negatively impact our business in the future. While extreme weather conditions can positively impact our operating results by increasing demand in affected locations for products needed to cope with the weather condition and its effects, they can also negatively affect our business depending on the severity and length of these conditions, as a result of store closings, damage to our stores or merchandise, or the inability of customers to shop at our stores due to weather conditions. Our strategy is to manage product flow and adjust merchandise assortments and depth of inventory to capitalize on seasonal demand trends. Should such a strategy not be effective, the weather may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Weather
conditions may cause a disruption in our distribution and transportation network that would adversely affect our ability to conduct our operations.
We rely on our distribution and transportation network, including third-party logistics providers, to provide goods to our stores and to our customers in a timely and cost-effective manner through deliveries to our distribution facilities from vendors and then from the distribution facilities or direct ship vendors to our stores or customers by various means of transportation, including shipments by sea, air, rail, and truck. Although we believe that our operations are efficient, disruptions due to extreme weather conditions, including snow and ice storms, flood and wind damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme rain, fires and droughts may result in delays in the transportation and delivery of merchandise to our distribution centers, our stores,
or our customers. Significant disruptions or delays in our distribution and transportation network could adversely affect sales and the satisfaction of our customers which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may be adversely affected by legal, regulatory or market responses to global climate change.
Growing concern over climate change has led policy makers in the U.S. to consider the enactment of legislative and regulatory proposals that would impose mandatory requirements on greenhouse gas emissions. Such laws, if enacted, are likely to impact our business in a number of ways. For example, we use natural gas, diesel fuel, gasoline and electricity in conducting our operations. Increased government regulations to limit carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gas emissions may result in increased compliance costs and legislation or regulation affecting energy inputs, which could materially affect our profitability. Compliance with any new or more stringent laws or requirements, or stricter interpretations of existing laws, could require additional expenditures by us or our suppliers. Our inability to appropriately respond to such changes could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Macroeconomic Risks
General economic conditions may adversely affect our financial performance.
Our results of operations may be sensitive to changes in overall economic conditions that impact consumer spending, including discretionary
spending. A weakening of economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income such as lower employment levels, uncertainty or changes in business or political conditions, social and political causes and movements, higher interest rates, higher tax rates, higher fuel and energy costs, higher labor and healthcare costs, the impact of natural disasters or acts of terrorism, general health epidemics, and other matters could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to competitors. A general reduction in the level of discretionary spending, shifts in consumer discretionary spending to our competitors or shifts in discretionary spending to less profitable products sold by us could result in lower net sales, slower inventory turnover, greater markdowns on inventory, and a reduction in profitability due to lower margins.
Purchase price volatility, including inflationary
and deflationary pressures, may adversely affect our financial performance.
Although we cannot determine the full effect of inflation and deflation on our operations, we believe our sales and results of operations are affected by both. We are subject to market risk with respect to the pricing of certain products and services, which include, among other items, grain, corn, steel, petroleum, cotton, and other commodities, as well as duties, tariffs, diesel fuel, and transportation services. Therefore, we may experience both inflationary and deflationary pressure on product cost, which may impact consumer demand and, as a result, sales and gross margin. Our strategy is to reduce or mitigate the effects of purchase price volatility principally by taking advantage of vendor incentive programs, economies of scale from increased volume of purchases, adjusting retail prices, and selectively
buying from the most competitive vendors while maintaining product quality. Should our strategy to mitigate purchase price volatility not be effective, our financial performance could be adversely impacted.
Our failure to attract and retain qualified team members, increases in wage, and labor costs, and changes in laws and other labor issues could adversely affect our financial performance.
Our ability to maintain and continue expanding operations
depends on our ability to attract and retain a large and growing number of qualified team members. Our ability to meet labor needs while controlling wage and related labor costs is subject to numerous external factors, including the availability of a sufficient number of qualified persons in the work force, unemployment levels, prevailing wage rates, increases in legally required minimum wage rates, changing demographics, health and other insurance costs, changes in employment legislation and the potential for changes in local labor practices or union activities. If we are unable to locate, attract or retain qualified personnel, or if costs of labor or related costs increase significantly, our financial performance could be adversely affected.
We are subject to federal, state, and local laws governing employment practices and working conditions. These laws cover wage and hour practices,
labor relations, paid and family leave, workplace safety and immigration, among others. The laws and regulations being passed at the state and local level create unique challenges for a multi-state employer. We must continue to monitor and adapt our employment practices to comply with these various laws and regulations. If our costs of labor or related costs increase significantly as new or revised labor laws, rules or regulations or healthcare laws are adopted or implemented, our financial performance could be adversely affected.
The loss of current members of our senior management team and other key team members or the failure to successfully manage an executive officer transition may adversely affect our operating results.
Our success depends in large part on the continued availability and service
of our executive officers, senior management, and other key team members. Competition for senior management and key team members in our industry is strong and we may not be able to retain our key team members or attract new qualified team members. We must continue to recruit, retain, and motivate management and other team members sufficiently, both to maintain our current business and to execute our long-term strategic growth initiatives. The loss of any of our executive officers or other key senior management without sufficient advance notice could prevent or delay the implementation and completion of our strategic initiatives or divert management’s attention to seeking qualified replacements. Additionally, any failure by us to manage a successful leadership transition of an executive officer and to timely identify a qualified permanent replacement could harm our business and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Supply
Chain and Third-Party Vendor Risks
We face risks associated with vendors from whom our products are sourced.
The products we sell are sourced from a variety of domestic and international vendors. We have agreements with our vendors in which the vendors agree to comply with applicable laws, including labor and environmental laws, and to indemnify us against certain liabilities and costs. Our ability to recover liabilities and costs under these vendor agreements is dependent upon the financial condition and integrity of the vendors. We rely on long-term relationships with our suppliers but have no significant long-term contracts with such suppliers. Our future success will depend in large measure upon our ability
to maintain our existing supplier relationships or to develop new ones. This reliance exposes us to the risk of inadequate and untimely supplies of various products due to political, economic, social, health (including, but not limited to, the COVID-19 coronavirus), or environmental conditions, transportation delays, or changes in laws and regulations affecting distribution. Our vendors may be forced to reduce their production, shut down their operations or file for bankruptcy protection, which could make it difficult for us to serve the market’s needs and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
While the Company selects these third-party vendors carefully, it does not control their actions or the components or manufacture of their products. Any problems caused by these third-parties,
or issues associated with their products or workforce, including customer or governmental complaints, breakdowns or other disruptions in communication services provided by a vendor, failure of a vendor to handle current or higher volumes, and cyber attacks or security breaches at a vendor could subject the Company to litigation and adversely affect the Company’s ability to deliver products and services to its customers and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We rely on foreign manufacturers for various products that we sell. In addition, many of our domestic suppliers purchase a portion of their products from foreign sources. As an importer, our business is subject to
the risks generally associated with doing business internationally, such as domestic and foreign governmental regulations, economic disruptions, global or regional
health epidemics, delays in shipments, transportation capacity and costs, currency exchange rates, and changes in political or economic conditions in countries from which we purchase products. If any such factors were to render the conduct of business in particular countries undesirable or impractical or if additional U.S. quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes, or other charges or restrictions were imposed upon the importation of our products in the future, our financial condition and results of operations could
be materially adversely affected.
The political landscape in the U.S. contains uncertainty with respect to tax and trade policies, tariffs and regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries. We source a portion of our merchandise from manufacturers located outside the U.S., primarily in Asia and Central America. Major developments in tax policy or trade relations, such as the disallowance of tax deductions for imported merchandise or the imposition of tariffs on imported products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We rely on manufacturers located in foreign countries, including China, for merchandise. Additionally, a portion of our domestically purchased merchandise is manufactured abroad. Our business may be materially
adversely affected by risks associated with international trade, including the impact of current or potential tariffs by the U.S. with respect to certain consumer goods imported from China.
We source a portion of our merchandise from manufacturers located outside the U.S., primarily in Asia and Central America, and many of our domestic vendors have a global supply chain. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on certain products imported into the U.S. from China and could propose additional tariffs. The imposition of tariffs on imported products has increased our costs and could result in reduced sales and profits. The changes in certain tax and trade policies, tariffs and other regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries enacted under the prior U.S. administration increased the cost of our merchandise sourced from outside of the U.S., which represents a large percentage
of our overall merchandise. It remains unclear how tax or trade policies, tariffs or trade relations may change under the current U.S. administration, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, effective income tax rate, liquidity and net income.
In addition, the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. has resulted in the adoption of tariffs by China on U.S. exports and could result in the adoption of tariffs by other countries as well. A resulting trade war could have a significant adverse effect on world trade and the world economy. Further, the imposition of tariffs or other changes in world trade could have an impact on certain U.S. industries and consumers and could negatively impact the consumer demand for products that we sell.
We continue to evaluate the impact of the effective
and potential tariffs on our supply chain, costs, sales, and profitability as well as our strategies to mitigate any negative impact, including negotiating with our vendors, seeking alternative sourcing options, and adjusting retail selling prices. Given the uncertainty regarding the scope and duration of the current and potential tariffs, as well as the potential for additional trade actions by the U.S. or other countries, the impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition is uncertain but could be significant. Thus, we can provide no assurance that any strategies we implement to mitigate the impact of such tariffs or other trade actions will be successful in whole or in part. To the extent that our supply chain, costs, sales, or profitability are negatively affected by the tariffs or other trade actions, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
A
significant disruption to our distribution network or to the timely receipt of inventory could adversely impact sales or increase our transportation costs, which would decrease our profits.
We rely on our distribution and transportation network, including third-party logistics providers, to provide goods to our stores in a timely and cost-effective manner through deliveries to our distribution facilities from vendors and then from the distribution facilities or direct ship vendors to our stores or customers by various means of transportation, including shipments by sea, air, rail, and truck. Any disruption, unanticipated expense, or operational failure related to this process could negatively affect our operations. For example, unexpected delivery delays (including delays due to weather, fuel shortages, work stoppages, global or regional health epidemics, product shortages from vendors,
or other reasons) or increases in transportation costs (including increased fuel costs or a decrease in transportation capacity for overseas shipments) could significantly decrease our ability to provide adequate products to meet increased customer demand for certain products, or products at a desired price, resulting in lower sales and profitability. In addition, labor shortages or work stoppages in the transportation industry or long-term disruptions to the national and international transportation infrastructure that lead to delays or interruptions of deliveries could negatively affect our business. Also, a fire, tornado, or other disaster at one of our distribution facilities could disrupt our timely receiving, processing, and shipment of merchandise to our stores which could adversely affect our business. While we believe there are adequate reserve quantities and alternative suppliers available, shortages or interruptions in the receipt or supply of products caused
by unanticipated demand, such as occurred during, and as the economy recovers from, the COVID-19 pandemic, problems in production or distribution, financial or other difficulties of supplies,
inclement weather or other economic conditions, including the availability of qualified drivers and distribution center team members, could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of products, and our operating results.
The implementation of our supply chain initiatives could disrupt our operations in the near term, and these initiatives might not provide the anticipated benefits
or might fail.
We maintain a network of distribution facilities and have plans to build new distribution facilities and expand existing facilities to support our long-term strategic growth initiatives. Delays in opening new or expanded distribution facilities could adversely affect our future operations by slowing store growth or negatively impacting our fulfillment capabilities, which may in turn reduce revenue growth. In addition, distribution-related construction or expansion projects entail risks which could cause delays and cost overruns, such as: shortages of materials; shortages of skilled labor or work stoppages; unforeseen construction, scheduling, engineering, environmental, or geological problems; weather interference; fires or other casualty losses; and unanticipated cost increases. The completion date and ultimate cost of future projects could differ significantly from
initial expectations due to construction-related or other reasons. We cannot guarantee that all projects will be completed on time or within established budgets.
We continue to make significant technology investments in our supply chain. These initiatives are designed to streamline our distribution process so that we can optimize the delivery of goods and services to our stores, distribution facilities, and customers in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost. The cost and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of these initiatives, including those associated with managing third-party service providers and employing new web-based tools and services, could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations in the near term. In addition, our improved supply chain technology might not provide the anticipated benefits, it might take longer than expected
to realize the anticipated benefits, or the initiatives might fail altogether.
Technology, Data Security, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Risks
Any failure to maintain the security of the information relating to our business, customers, team members, and vendors that we hold, whether as a result of cybersecurity attacks or otherwise, could damage our reputation with customers, employees, and vendors, could cause us to incur substantial additional costs and to become subject to litigation, and could materially affect our operating results, financial condition, and liquidity.
We depend on information systems and technology, some of which are managed or provided by third-parties, for many activities important
to our business. As do most retailers, we receive and store in our information systems certain personal and other sensitive information about our business, customers, team members, and vendors. Additionally, we also receive and process information permitting cashless payments as part of our in-store and online operations at TractorSupply.com and Petsense.com and on our mobile application, some of which depend upon the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. The information that we receive and store makes us subject to cybersecurity attacks and cyber incidents, which are occurring more frequently, are constantly evolving in nature, are becoming more sophisticated, and are being made by groups and individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives. We are the target of attempted cyber and other
security threats and we continuously monitor our information technology networks and infrastructure in an effort to prevent, detect, address and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses and other events that could have a security impact. However, these security measures cannot provide absolute assurance or guarantee that we will be successful in preventing, detecting, or responding to every such breach or disruption and/or preventing the misuse of confidential information of our business, customers, team members, or vendors. Similar risks exist with respect to the third-party vendors on which we rely for aspects of our information technology support services and administrative functions, even if the attack or breach does not directly impact our systems or information.
A compromise of our information security and
privacy controls, or those of businesses and vendors with whom we interact, which results in confidential information being accessed, obtained, damaged, or used by unauthorized or improper parties; loss or unavailability of data; disruptions to our business activities; or any other outcome stemming from a cybersecurity incident could materially adversely affect our reputation with our customers, team members, and vendors, as well as our operations, results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity, and could result in significant legal and financial exposure beyond the scope or limits of insurance coverage. Moreover, a security breach could require that we expend significant additional resources to respond to the attack or breach and could result in a disruption of our operations.
In addition, states and the federal government have
enacted laws and regulations relating to privacy, data breaches, and theft of employee and customer data. These laws have increased the costs of doing business and, if we fail to comply with these laws and regulations to implement appropriate safeguards or to detect and provide prompt notice of unauthorized access as required
by some of these new laws, we could be subject to potential claims for damages and other remedies, which could harm our business.
We are subject to payments-related risks that could increase our operating costs, expose us to fraud, subject us to potential liability, and
potentially disrupt our business.
We accept payments using a variety of methods, including credit cards, debit cards, credit accounts, our private label credit cards, gift cards, direct debit from a customer’s bank account, consumer invoicing, and physical bank checks, and we may offer different payment options over time. These payment options subject us to many compliance requirements, including, but not limited to, compliance with payment card association operating rules, including data security rules, certification requirements, rules governing electronic funds transfers, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. They also subject us to potential fraud by criminal elements seeking to discover and take advantage of security vulnerabilities that may exist in some of these payment systems. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees,
which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. We rely on third parties to provide payment processing services, including the processing of credit cards, debit cards, electronic checks, gift cards and promotional financing, and it could disrupt our business if these companies become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, adequately encrypt payment transaction data, or if our data security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for card issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines and higher transaction fees, and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our customers, process electronic funds transfers, or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
Our business and operations could suffer material
losses in the event of system interruptions or failures.
Our information technology systems, some of which are dependent on services managed or provided by third-parties, serve an important role in the operation and administration of our business. These systems are vulnerable to damages from any number of sources, including, but not limited to, human error, cybersecurity attacks, computer viruses, unauthorized access, fire, flood, power outages, telecommunication failures, facility or equipment damage, natural disasters, terrorism, and war. In addition, we continually make investments in technology to implement new processes and systems, as well as to maintain and update our existing processes and systems. Implementing process and system changes increases the risk of disruption. If our information technology systems are interrupted or fail and our redundant systems or recovery plans
are not adequate to address such interruptions or failures on a timely basis, our revenues and profits could be reduced and the reputation of our brand and our business could be materially adversely affected. Additionally, remediation of any problems with our systems could result in significant, unplanned expenses.
Customer-facing technology systems are an important part of our sales and marketing strategy and the failure of those systems to perform effectively and reliably could keep us from delivering positive customer experiences.
Through our continued information technology enhancements, we believe we are able to provide an improved overall shopping environment and an omni-channel experience that empowers our customers to shop and interact with us from computers, tablets, smart phones, and other
mobile communication devices. We use our websites, TractorSupply.com and Petsense.com, and our mobile application as both a sales channel for our products and as a method of providing product, project, and other relevant information to our customers to drive in-store and online sales. Omni-channel retailing is continually evolving and expanding, and we must effectively respond to changing customer expectations and new developments. The portion of total consumer expenditures with retailers occurring online and through mobile applications has continued to increase and has accelerated significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pace of this increase could further accelerate in the future. Our business has evolved from an in-store experience to interaction
with customers across numerous channels, including in-store, online, mobile and social media, among others. Omni-channel retailing is rapidly evolving, and we must keep pace with changing customer expectations and new developments by our competitors. Our customers are increasingly using mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other devices to shop and to interact with us through social media, particularly in the wake of COVID-19. We are making investments in our websites and mobile applications. If we are unable to make, improve, or develop relevant customer-facing technology in a timely manner, our ability to compete and our results of operations could be adversely affected. Disruptions, failures, or other performance issues with these customer-facing technology systems could impair the benefits that they provide to our in-store and online business and
negatively affect our relationship with our customers.
If we are unable to maintain or upgrade our management information systems and software programs or if we are unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner, our operations may be disrupted or become less efficient and our long-term strategic growth initiatives may not be successful.
We depend on management information systems for many aspects of our business. We rely on certain software vendors to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems so that we
can continue to support our business. We could be materially adversely affected if we experienced a disruption or data loss relating to our management information systems and are unable to recover timely. We could also be adversely impacted if we are unable to improve, upgrade, maintain, and expand our management information systems, particularly in light of the contemplated continued store growth.
The success of our long-term strategic growth initiatives designed to increase our sales and improve margin are dependent in varying degrees on the timely delivery and the functionality of information technology systems to support them. Extended delays or cost overruns in securing, developing, and otherwise implementing technology solutions to support the long-term strategic growth initiatives would delay and possibly even prevent us from realizing the projected benefits of those initiatives.
Financial
Risks
Changes in market conditions or in our credit rating could restrict capital and adversely affect our business operations and growth initiatives.
We rely on the positive cash flow we generate from our operating activities and our access to the credit and capital markets to fund our operations, growth strategy, capital expenditures, and return of cash to our stockholders through share repurchases and dividends. Changes in the credit and capital markets, including market disruptions, limited liquidity and interest rate fluctuations, may increase the cost of financing or restrict our access to these potential sources of future liquidity. Our continued access to liquidity sources on favorable terms depends on multiple factors, including our operating performance and credit ratings. There can be no
assurance that we will be able to maintain and/or improve our current credit ratings. A rating organization may lower our rating, or change our ratings’ outlook, or decide not to rate our securities, temporarily or permanently, in its sole discretion. In the event that our current credit ratings are downgraded or removed, we would most likely incur higher borrowing costs and experience greater difficulty in obtaining additional financing, which in turn would have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity. We can make no assurances that our ability to obtain additional financing through the debt and equity markets will not be adversely affected by economic conditions or that we will be able to maintain or improve our current credit ratings.
In addition, tight lending practices may make it difficult for our real estate developers
to obtain financing under acceptable loan terms and conditions. Unfavorable lending conditions could impact the timing of our store openings and materially adversely affect our ability to open new stores in desirable locations.
Longer-term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, reduced funding alternatives, or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for our business. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures and reducing or eliminating future share repurchases, cash dividends, or other discretionary uses of cash.
Our
level of indebtedness could limit our cash flow available for operations and could adversely affect our ability to service our debt or obtain additional financing.
As of December 25, 2021, our total outstanding consolidated debt was approximately $986.4 million. Our level of indebtedness could restrict our operations and make it more difficult for us to satisfy our debt obligations. Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness, to refinance our indebtedness, and to fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future.This ability, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond our control. Our business may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from operations,
and future borrowings may not be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs.We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity.Our ability to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on acceptable terms, or at all, will be dependent upon a number of factors, including our degree of leverage, the value of our assets, borrowing and other financial restrictions imposed by lenders and conditions in the credit markets at the time we refinance. If we are unable to refinance our indebtedness on acceptable terms, we may be forced to agree to otherwise unfavorable financing terms. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In
addition, so long as we comply with any existing limitations in our credit and debt agreements while they are in effect, we may issue an indeterminate amount of debt securities from time to time. If new debt is added to our and our subsidiaries' current debt levels, the related risks that we and they now face could intensify.
Our credit facilities, the indenture related to our 1.75% Senior Notes, and other debt instruments have restrictive covenants and change of control provisions that could limit our financial and business flexibility.
Our credit agreement governing our senior credit facilities and our note purchase and private
shelf agreement governing our senior unsecured notes due August 14, 2029 (the “2029 notes”) each contain financial, operative and other restrictive covenants in addition to the restrictive covenants contained in the indenture governing our 1.75% Senior Notes (as defined in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements). Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our debt, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. In addition, upon certain events constituting a change of control, as that term is defined in the indenture for our 1.75% Senior Notes and in our note purchase and private shelf agreement
for our 2029 notes, we are required to make an offer in cash to repurchase all or any part of each holder's 1.75% Senior Notes at a repurchase price equal to 101% of the principal thereof, plus accrued interest, and to prepay all of each holder’s 2029 notes at a prepayment price equal to 100% of the principal thereof, plus accrued interest. Sufficient funds may not be available to us, however, at the time of any change of control event to repurchase and prepay, as applicable, all or a portion of the tendered notes pursuant to these requirements. Our failure to offer to repurchase 1.75% Senior Notes and prepay 2029 notes, or to repurchase and prepay, as applicable, notes tendered, following a change of control will result in a default under the indentures for our 1.75% Senior Notes and the note purchase and private shelf agreement for our 2029 notes, which could lead to a cross-default
under our credit agreement for our senior credit facilities.
We cannot provide any guaranty of future dividend payments or that we will continue to repurchase our common stock pursuant to our stock repurchase program.
Although our Board of Directors has indicated an intention to pay future quarterly cash dividends on our common stock, any determination to pay or increase cash dividends on our common stock in the future will be based primarily upon our financial condition, results of operations, business requirements, and our Board of Directors’ continuing determination that the declaration of dividends is in the best interests of our stockholders and is in compliance with all laws and agreements applicable to the dividend. Furthermore, although our Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase
program of up to $6.5 billion, we may temporarily pause or permanently discontinue this program at any time or significantly reduce the amount of repurchases under the program. The currently authorized amount reflects a $2.0 billion increase to the existing share repurchase program which was approved by our Board of Directors on January 26, 2022. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 25, 2021, prior to the expanded $2.0 billion repurchase authorization, the Company had remaining authorization under the share repurchase program of $345.0 million, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses.
The market price
for our common stock might be volatile and could result in a decline in value.
The price at which our common stock trades may be volatile and could be subject to significant fluctuations in response to our operating results, general trends and prospects for the retail industry, announcements by our competitors, analyst recommendations, our ability to meet or exceed analysts’ or investors’ expectations, the condition of the financial markets, and other factors. The Company’s stock price is dependent in part on the multiple of earnings that investors are willing to pay. That multiple is in part dependent on investors’ perception of the Company’s future earnings growth prospects. If investors’ perception of the
Company’s earnings growth prospects change, the Company’s earnings multiple may decline and its stock price could be adversely affected.
In addition, the stock market has at times experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies. These fluctuations, as well as general economic and market conditions, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock notwithstanding our actual operating performance.
Impairment of the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Goodwill
represents the difference between the purchase price of an acquired company and the related fair value of net assets acquired. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indication of impairment of goodwill exists. As
with goodwill, we also test our indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors indicating impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets may include, among others: a significant decline in our expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in our stock price and market capitalization;
a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated or changing competition; the testing for recoverability of a significant asset group within a reporting unit; and reduced growth rates. Any adverse change in these factors could have a significant impact on the recoverability of these assets and negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations. To the extent that business conditions deteriorate or if changes in key assumptions and estimates differ significantly from management's expectations, it may be necessary to record additional impairment charges in the future which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks
We are 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 with a self-insured retention and workers’ compensation insurance with a deductible for each occurrence. We also maintain umbrella limits above the primary general liability and product liability coverage. In many cases, we have indemnification rights against the manufacturers
of the products and their products liability insurance, as well as the property owners of our leased buildings. Our ability to recover costs and damages under such insurance or indemnification arrangements is subject to the financial viability of the insurers, manufacturers, and landlords and the specific allegations of a claim. No assurance can be given that our insurance coverage or the manufacturers’ or landlords’ indemnity will be available or sufficient in any claims brought against us.
Additionally, we are subject to U.S. federal, state, and local employment laws that expose us to potential liability if we are determined to have violated such employment laws, including but not limited to, laws pertaining to minimum wage rates, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination. Compliance with these laws, including the remediation of any alleged violation, may
have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.
Our business could be negatively impacted as a result of federal, state, local, or foreign laws and regulations.
We are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign laws and governmental regulations including those relating to competition, environmental protection, personal injury, intellectual property, consumer product safety, building, land use and zoning requirements, workplace regulations, wage and hour, privacy and information security, and employment law matters.
Our operations, including our outsourced exclusive brand manufacturing partners, are subject to regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”),
the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), the Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”), the Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") and by various other federal, state, local and foreign authorities regarding the processing, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, labeling and export of our products, including food safety standards.
If we fail to comply with existing or future laws or regulations, or if these laws or regulations are violated by importers, manufacturers or distributors, we may be subject to governmental or judicial fines or sanctions, while incurring substantial legal fees and costs. In addition, our capital expenditures could increase due to remediation measures that may be required if we are found to be noncompliant with any existing or future laws or regulations.
We
are also subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), which prohibits U.S. companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business, and the anti-bribery laws of other jurisdictions. Failure to comply with the FCPA and similar laws could subject us to, among other things, penalties and legal expenses that could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Potential noncompliance with environmental regulations could materially impact our results of operations
or financial condition.
Our business is subject to various federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and other requirements pertaining to protection of the environment and public health, including, for example, regulations governing the management of waste materials and waste waters. Governmental agencies on the federal, state, and local levels have, in recent years, increasingly focused on the retail sector’s compliance with such laws and regulations, and have at times pursued enforcement activities. We periodically receive information requests and notices of potential noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations from governmental agencies, which are addressed on a case-by-case basis with the relevant agency. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
Failure
to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting could materially impact our business and results.
The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. An internal control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all internal control systems, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Any failure to maintain an effective system of internal control
over financial reporting could limit our ability to report our financial results accurately and timely or to detect and prevent fraud, and could expose us to litigation or adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Effective tax rate changes and results of examinations by taxing authorities could materially impact our results.
Our future effective tax rates could be adversely affected by legislative tax reform, changes in statutory rates or changes in tax laws, or interpretations thereof. Additionally, our future effective tax rates could be adversely affected by the earnings mix being lower than historical results in states where we have lower statutory rates and higher than historical results in states where we have higher statutory rates or by changes in the measurement of our deferred
tax assets and liabilities.
We are subject to periodic audits and examinations by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), as well as state and local taxing authorities. Like many retailers, a portion of our sales are to tax-exempt customers. The business activities of our customers and the intended use of the unique products sold by us create a challenging and complex compliance environment. These circumstances create risk that we could be challenged as to the propriety of our sales tax compliance. Our results could be materially impacted by the determinations and expenses related to these and other proceedings by the IRS and other state and local taxing authorities.
COVID-19 Risks
The COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic has, and could continue to have a material negative effect on our results of operations, cash flows, financial position, and business operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant public health concerns as well as economic disruption, uncertainty, and volatility, such as increased transportation costs, supply chain distributions, labor shortages, increased overhead, among other impacts, which have, and may continue to, negatively affect our business operations.
Despite the previous impacts of the pandemic on our business, we are unable to predict the future impact that COVID-19 will have on our results of operations, cash flows, financial position, and business operations due to numerous uncertainties. These uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the severity of the virus;
the duration of the pandemic, including the likelihood of resurgences and the emergence of variants; the efficacy and public acceptance of vaccines; governmental actions which include restrictions on our operations up to and including potential closure of our stores and distribution centers; the duration and degree of quarantine or shelter-in-place measures, including additional measures that may still occur; impacts on our supply chain which include suppliers of our products and our transportation vendors; impacts on our distribution network; the health of our workforce and our ability to maintain staffing needs to operate our business; how macroeconomic factors evolve including unemployment rates and recessionary pressures; the impact of the pandemic on consumer shopping patterns; volatility in the economy as well as the credit and financial markets; the incremental costs of doing business during the pandemic as well as on a long-term basis; potential increases in
insurance premiums, medical claims costs, and workers' compensation claim costs; unknown consequences on our business performance and initiatives stemming from the substantial investment of time and other
resources to the pandemic response; potential delays in growth initiatives including the timing of new store openings; potential adverse effects on our internal control environment and information security as a result of changes to a remote work environment; and the long-term impact of the pandemic on our business.
In addition, we cannot predict the impact that the pandemic will have
on our manufacturers and suppliers of our products and other business partners such as service vendors; however, any material effect on these parties could adversely impact our results of operations and our ability to operate our business effectively.
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has had, and could continue to have a material negative effect on our supply chain and distribution network.
Circumstances surrounding and related to the COVID-19 pandemic have created unprecedented impacts on the global supply chain. Our business relies on an efficient and effective supply chain, including the manufacture and transportation of our products as well as the effective functioning of our distribution centers. Impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic are placing strains on the domestic and international supply
chains that have negatively affected, and could continue to negatively affect the flow or availability of our products and result in higher out-of-stock inventory positions due to difficulties in timely obtaining product from the manufacturers and suppliers of our products as well as transportation of those products to our distribution centers and stores. Further, we may have to source products from different manufacturers or geographic locations which could result in, among other things, higher product costs, increased transportation costs, delays in receiving products or lower quality of the products.
Additionally, the operation of our distribution centers is crucial to our business operations. If our distribution centers experience closures or worker shortages, whether temporary or sustained, we could sustain significant adverse impacts related to the flow or availability of products
to our stores and customers.
Any of these circumstances could adversely affect our ability to deliver inventory in a timely manner, which could impair our ability to meet customer demand for products and result in lost sales, increased supply chain costs, or damage to our reputation.
Economic impacts stemming from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic could significantly impact our financial position, including liquidity, capital allocation, and access to capital markets for additional funds to operate our business.
The financial and credit markets have experienced, and may continue to experience significant volatility and turmoil as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in the financial and credit markets could adversely
impact our ability to access capital on favorable terms and continue to meet our liquidity needs.
Additionally, changes in our capital allocation strategy could have significant adverse impacts, both short- and long-term, on our business, results of operations, and financial position. Any future suspension of our share repurchase program, if necessary and depending on duration, could negatively impact our earnings per share which in turn could adversely impact our common stock price. While not contemplated at this time, any potential suspension or reduction in our dividend declaration could have an adverse impact on investor perception and our common stock price.
Actions taken to protect the health and safety of our team members and customers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have increased our operating
costs and may not be sufficient to protect against operational or reputational harm to our business, regulatory actions or claims and litigation.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken a number of actions across our business to help protect our team members, customers, and others in the communities we serve. These measures include encouraging vaccination efforts, personal protective equipment for our team members, following local and federal guidance regarding the use of masks in our facilities, increased staffing in order to provide contact-free curbside pickup from stores, expansion of our capabilities to support delivery to customer homes, increased cleaning and sanitizing measures, offering remote work plans at our Store Support Center and monitoring for “social distancing” directives, as well as additional cleaning materials in our facilities. Additionally,
we have provided appreciation bonuses as well as permanent increases in compensation and benefits for our team members in our stores and distribution centers to further support them during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Actions such as these have resulted in significant incremental costs in fiscal 2021 and 2020, and we expect that we will continue to incur these costs for the foreseeable future, which in turn will have an adverse impact on our results of operations.
The health and safety of our team members and customers are of primary concern to our management team. However, due to the unpredictable nature of this virus and the consequences of our actions, we may see unexpected outcomes notwithstanding
our
added safety measures. For instance, if we do not respond appropriately to the pandemic, or if our team members or customers do not participate in “social distancing”, vaccination efforts and other safety measures, the well-being of our team members and customers could be jeopardized. Furthermore, any failure to appropriately respond, or the perception of an inadequate response, could cause reputational harm to our brand and subject us to claims and litigation from team members, customers and service providers. Additionally, we may experience increased litigation expenses resulting from team member or customer lawsuits, including those related to the Company’s COVID-19 response and team member or customer contraction of COVID-19, increased insurance costs, medical claims costs and workers’ compensation claims costs and an adverse impact of regulatory and judicial changes in liability
for workers’ compensation claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further, an outbreak of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our stores or distribution centers could result in temporary or sustained workforce shortages or facility closures which would negatively impact our underlying business and results of operations.
At December 25, 2021, the Company operated 2,181 stores in 49 states (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores). The Company leases approximately 95% of its stores. Store leases typically have initial terms of between 10 and 15 years, with two to four optional renewal periods of five years each, exercisable at our option. No single lease is material to the Company’s operations. Approximately 57% of our stores are in freestanding buildings and 43% are located in shopping
centers. The following is a count of store locations by state:
The
following is a list of distribution locations including the approximate square footage and if the location is leased or owned:
Distribution Facility Location
Approximate Square Footage
Owned/Leased Facility
Frankfort, New York
924,000
Owned
Franklin,
Kentucky
833,000
Owned
Pendleton, Indiana
764,000
Owned
Macon, Georgia
684,000
Owned
Waco, Texas
666,000
Owned
Casa
Grande, Arizona
650,000
Owned
Waverly, Nebraska
592,000
Owned
Hagerstown, Maryland (a)
482,000
Owned
Hagerstown, Maryland (a)
309,000
Leased
Seguin,
Texas (b)
71,000
Owned
Lakewood, Washington (b)
64,000
Leased
Longview, Texas (b)
63,000
Owned
(a) The leased distribution center in Hagerstown is treated as an extension
of the existing owned Hagerstown location and is not considered a separate distribution center.
(b) This is a mixing center designed to process certain high-volume bulk products.
The Company’s Store Support Center occupies approximately 260,000 square feet of owned building space in Brentwood, Tennessee, and the Company’s Merchandising Innovation Center occupies approximately 32,000 square feet of leased building space in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Company is building a new distribution center in Navarre, Ohio, which is expected to
be approximately 900,000 square feet and is currently anticipated to be completed in the fall of fiscal 2022.
In addition, on January 26, 2022, the Company announced plans to build a new distribution center in Maumelle, Arkansas. This new distribution center is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet. Construction is planned to begin in the middle of 2022 and is currently anticipated to be completed in late 2023.
We also use third-party operated import centers, mixing centers and pop-up distribution facilities which provide additional distribution capacity.
Item
3. Legal Proceedings
For a description of the Company's legal proceedings, refer to Note 11 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included under Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Common Stock
The Company’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol, “TSCO.”
As of January 22, 2022, the number of record holders of our common stock was 725 (excluding individual participants in nominee security position
listings).
Dividends
We paid cash dividends totaling $239.0 million and $174.7 million in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. In fiscal 2021, we declared and paid cash dividends to stockholders of $2.08 per common share outstanding as compared to $1.50 per common share outstanding in fiscal 2020. These payments reflect an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.52 in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 from $0.40 per share and an increase in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 to $0.40 per share from $0.35 per share.
It is the present intention of the Company’s Board of Directors to continue to pay a quarterly cash dividend; however, the declaration and payment amount of future dividends will be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend upon the earnings, financial condition, and capital needs of the
Company, along with any other factors which the Company’s Board of Directors deem relevant.
The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized common stock repurchases under a share repurchase program which was announced in February 2007. The authorization amount of the program, which has been increased from time to time, is currently authorized for
up to $6.5 billion, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses related to such repurchases. The currently authorized amount reflects a $2.0 billion increase to the existing share repurchase program which was approved by the Company's Board of Directors on January 26, 2022. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 25, 2021, prior to the expanded $2.0 billion repurchase authorization, the Company had remaining authorization under the share repurchase program of $345.0 million, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses. Additionally, the
Company withholds shares from vested restricted stock units and performance-based restricted share units to satisfy employees’ minimum statutory tax withholding requirements. Stock purchase activity during fiscal 2021 is set forth in the table below:
Period
Total Number of
Shares Purchased
Average Price Paid Per Share
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs
Maximum Dollar Value of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
(a) The total number of shares purchased and average price paid per share include shares withheld from vested stock awards to satisfy employees’ minimum statutory tax withholding requirements of 80,994 during the first quarter, 8,279 during the second quarter, 5,599
during the third quarter, and 1,124 during the fourth quarter.
We expect to implement the balance of the repurchase program through purchases made from time to time either in the open market or through private transactions, in accordance with regulations of the SEC and other applicable legal requirements. The timing and amount of any common stock repurchased under the program will depend on a variety of factors including price, corporate and regulatory requirements, capital availability, and other market conditions.
Any additional stock repurchase programs will be subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon earnings, financial condition, and capital needs of the Company, along with
any other factors which the Board of Directors deem relevant. The program may be limited, temporarily paused, or terminated at any time, without prior notice.
This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (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 Tractor Supply Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock from December 31, 2016 to December 25, 2021 (the Company’s fiscal year-end), with the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Retail Index over the same period. The comparison assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2016, in our common stock and in each of the foregoing indices and in each case assumes reinvestment of dividends. The historical stock price performance shown on this graph
is not indicative of future performance.
12/31/2016
12/30/2017
12/29/2018
12/28/2019
12/26/2020
12/25/2021
Tractor
Supply Company
$
100.00
$
100.32
$
113.40
$
127.52
$
205.47
$
322.80
S&P 500
$
100.00
$
121.83
$
115.49
$
153.58
$
178.76
$
231.39
S&P
Retail Index
$
100.00
$
130.40
$
146.11
$
188.70
$
270.43
$
326.24
Item
6. [Reserved]
The selected financial data previously required by Item 301 of Regulation S-K has been omitted in accordance with the amendments to Regulation S-K.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide
the reader with information that will assist in understanding the significant factors affecting our consolidated operating results, financial condition, liquidity, and capital resources during the two-year period ended December 25, 2021 (our fiscal years 2021 and 2020). For a comparison of our results of operations for fiscal year December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 18, 2021. This discussion should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements included elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements and information. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Information” and “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this report.
Tractor Supply reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). Tractor Supply also uses certain non-GAAP measures that fall within the meaning of Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation G and Regulation S-K Item 10(e), which may provide users of the financial information with additional meaningful comparison to prior reported results. Non-GAAP measures do not have standardized definitions and are not defined by U.S. GAAP. Therefore, Tractor Supply’s non-GAAP measures are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The
presentation of these non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or as superior to the financial information presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We believe this information is useful in providing period-to-period comparisons of the results of our continuing operations.
Overview
Founded in 1938, Tractor Supply Company (the “Company” or "Tractor Supply" or “we” or “our” or “us”) is the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States (“U.S.”). The Company is focused on supplying the needs of recreational farmers, ranchers,
and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle (which we refer to as the “Out Here” lifestyle). As of December 25, 2021, we operated 2,181 retail stores in 49 states under the names Tractor Supply Company,Petsense, and Del’s Feed & Farm Supply. Our stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. We also operate websites under the names TractorSupply.com and Petsense.com as well as a Tractor Supply Company mobile application. Through our stores and e-commerce channels,
we offer the following comprehensive selection of merchandise:
•Equine, livestock, pet, and small animal products, including items necessary for their health, care, growth, and containment (i.e. fencing);
•Hardware, truck, towing, and tool products;
•Seasonal products, including heating, lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys;
•Work/recreational clothing and footwear; and
•Maintenance products for agricultural and rural use.
Tractor Supply Company believes we can grow our business by being an integral part
of our customers’ lives as the dependable supplier of "Out Here" lifestyle solutions, creating customer loyalty through personalized experiences, and providing convenience that our customers expect at anytime, anywhere, and in any way they choose. Our long-term growth strategy is to: (1) expand and deepen our customer base by providing personal, localized, and memorable customer engagements by leveraging content, social media, and digital shopping experiences, attracting new customers and driving loyalty, (2) evolve customer experiences by digitizing our business processes and furthering our omni-channel capabilities, (3) offer relevant assortments and services across all channels through exclusive and national brands and continue to grow our total addressable market by introducing new products and services through our test and learn strategy, (4) drive operational excellence and productivity through continuous
improvement, increasing space utilization, and implementing advanced supply chain capabilities to support growth, scale and agility, and (5) expand through selective acquisitions, as such opportunities arise, to add complementary businesses and to enhance penetration into new and existing markets to supplement organic growth.
Achieving this strategy will require a foundational focus on: (1) connecting, empowering and growing our team to enhance their lives and the communities they live in, enabling them to provide legendary service to our customers, and (2) allocating resources in a disciplined and efficient manner to drive profitable growth and build stockholder value, including leveraging technology and automation, to align our cost structure to support new business capabilities for margin improvement and cost reductions.
Over
the past five years, we have experienced considerable growth in stores, growing from 1,738 stores at the end of fiscal 2016 to 2,181 stores (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores) at the end of fiscal 2021, and in net sales, with a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 13.4%. Given the size of the communities that we target, we believe that there is ample opportunity for new store growth in many existing and new markets. We have developed a proven method for selecting store sites, and we believe we have significant additional opportunities for new Tractor Supply stores. We also believe that there is opportunity for continued growth for Petsense stores.
In fiscal 2021, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores in 27 states and seven new Petsense stores in four states. In fiscal 2020, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores in 31 states and nine new Petsense stores in three states. This resulted in a selling square footage increase of approximately 4% in each of fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.
Net sales increased 19.9% to $12.73 billion in fiscal 2021 from $10.62 billion in fiscal 2020 as we experienced significant demand for our products across all product categories, geographies and channels in fiscal 2021 as we acquired new customers who entered our markets and our existing customers focused on the care of their homes, land, and animals while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparable store sales increased 16.9% in fiscal 2021 versus a 23.1% increase
in fiscal 2020. Gross profit increased 19.0% to $4.48 billion in fiscal 2021 from $3.76 billion in fiscal 2020, and gross margin decreased 25 basis points to 35.2% of net sales in fiscal 2021 from 35.4% of net sales in fiscal 2020. Operating income increased 88 basis points to 10.3% of net sales in fiscal 2021 from 9.4% of net sales in fiscal 2020. For fiscal 2021, net income was $997.1 million, or $8.61 per diluted share, compared to $749.0 million, or $6.38 per diluted share, in fiscal 2020.
We ended fiscal 2021 with $878.0 million in cash and cash equivalents and outstanding debt of $986.4 million, after returning $1.04 billion to our stockholders through stock repurchases and quarterly cash dividends.
Information Regarding COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic
The
Company has been and continues to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all facets of our business. This includes the impact on our team members, customers, suppliers, vendors, business partners, and supply chain networks.
The health and safety of our team members and customers are the primary concerns of our management team. We have taken and continue to take numerous actions to promote health and safety, including, encouraging vaccination efforts, providing personal protective equipment to our team members, following local and federal guidance regarding the use of masks in our facilities, maintaining enhanced services for cleaning and sanitation, continuing to provide additional functionality to support contactless shopping experiences, promoting social distancing in our stores, and continuing to offer remote work plans at our Store Support Center.
As
further described in the results of operations, our net sales have significantly increased due to unprecedented customer demand across all major product categories, channels, and geographic regions. However, the net incremental costs of doing business during this crisis have increased as a result of the aforementioned actions we have taken to support and promote the safety and well-being of our team members and customers, and we believe some of these incremental costs will continue after the pandemic is over.
There are numerous uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and its impact on the economy and our business, as further described in the Risk Factors section under Part I Item 1A. of this Form 10-K, which make it difficult to predict the impact on our business, financial position, or results of operations in fiscal 2022 and beyond. While our stores, distribution centers, and e-commerce
operations are open and plan to remain open, we cannot predict the uncertainties, or the corresponding impacts on our business, at this time.
Performance Metrics
Comparable Store Metrics
Comparable store metrics are a key performance indicator used in the retail industry and by the Company to measure the performance of the underlying business.Our comparable store metrics are calculated on an annual basis using sales generated from all stores open at least one year and all online sales and exclude certain adjustments to net sales.Stores closed during either
of the years being compared are removed from our comparable store metrics calculations.Stores relocated during either of the years being compared are not removed from our comparable store metrics calculations.If the effect of relocated stores on our comparable store metrics calculations became material, we would remove relocated stores from the calculations.
Transaction count and transaction value metrics are used by the
Company to measure sales performance.Transaction count represents the number of customer transactions during a given period.Transaction value represents the average amount paid per transaction and is calculated as net sales divided by the total number of customer transactions during a given period.
Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates
Management’s discussion and analysis of our financial position and results of operations are based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires
management to make informed estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Our financial position and/or results of operations may be materially different when reported under different conditions or when using different assumptions in the application of such policies. In the event estimates or assumptions prove to be different from actual amounts, adjustments are made in subsequent periods to reflect more current information. Our significant accounting policies are disclosed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies and estimates, which are those that are both important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and that require significant judgment or use of complex estimates.
Merchandise
Inventory:
We identify potentially excess and slow-moving inventory by evaluating turn rates, historical and expected future sales trends, age of merchandise, overall inventory levels, current cost of inventory, and other benchmarks. We have established an inventory valuation reserve to recognize the estimated impairment in value (i.e., an inability to realize the full carrying value) based on our aggregate assessment of these valuation indicators under prevailing market conditions and current merchandising strategies.
We also have established a reserve for estimating inventory shrinkage between physical inventory counts. The reserve is established by assessing the chain-wide average shrinkage experience rate, applied to the related periods’ sales volumes. Such assessments are updated on a regular basis
for the most recent individual store experiences. Our general policy is to perform physical inventories at least once a year for each store that has been open more than twelve months.
We receive funding from substantially all of our significant merchandise vendors, in support of our business initiatives, through a variety of programs and arrangements, including guaranteed vendor support funds (“vendor support”) and volume-based rebate funds (“volume rebates”). The amounts received are subject to terms of vendor agreements, most of which are “evergreen”, reflecting the on-going relationship with our significant merchandise vendors. Certain of our agreements, primarily volume rebates, are renegotiated annually, based on expected annual purchases of the vendor’s product. Vendor funding is initially deferred as a reduction of the purchase price of inventory, and then
recognized as a reduction of cost of merchandise as the related inventory is sold. During interim periods, the amount of vendor support and volume rebates are estimated based upon initial commitments and anticipated purchase levels with applicable vendors.
We do not believe our merchandise inventories are subject to significant risk of obsolescence in the near term. However, changes in market conditions or consumer purchasing patterns could result in the need for additional reserves. Our impairment reserves contain uncertainties because the calculations require management to make assumptions and to apply judgment regarding forecasted customer demand and the promotional environment. The estimated store inventory shrink rate is based on historical experience. We believe historical rates are a reasonably accurate reflection of future trends. Our shrinkage reserve contains uncertainties
because the calculation requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment regarding future shrinkage trends, the effect of loss prevention measures and merchandising strategies.
For vendor funding, we estimate the purchase volume (and related vendor funding) based on our current knowledge of inventory levels, sales trends and expected customer demand, as well as planned new store openings and relocations. Although we believe we can reasonably estimate purchase volume and related volume rebates at interim periods, it is possible that actual year-end results could be different from previously estimated amounts. Our allocation methodology contains uncertainties because the calculation requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment regarding customer demand, purchasing activity, target thresholds, vendor attrition and collectability.
We
have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology used to recognize inventory impairment reserves or shrinkage in the financial periods presented. We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the future estimates or assumptions we use to calculate impairment or shrinkage. However, if assumptions regarding consumer demand, clearance potential or inventory loss for certain products are inaccurate, we may be exposed to losses or gains that could be material. A 10% change in our inventory impairment reserve as of December 25, 2021, would have affected net income by approximately $1.3 million in fiscal 2021. A 10% change in our shrinkage reserve as of December 25, 2021, would have affected net income by approximately $4.2 million in fiscal 2021.
We
have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology used to establish our vendor funding reserves in the financial periods presented. At the end of each fiscal year, a significant portion of the actual purchase activity is known. Thus, we do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the amounts recorded as vendor funding. We do not believe there is a significant collectability risk related to vendor funding amounts due to us at the end of fiscal 2021. If a 10% reserve had been applied against our outstanding vendor funding due as of December 25, 2021, net income would have been affected by approximately $2.3 million in fiscal 2021. Although it is unlikely that there will be any significant reduction in historical levels of vendor funding, if such a reduction were to occur in future periods, the
Company could experience a higher inventory balance and higher cost of sales.
Self-Insurance Reserves:
We self-insure a significant portion of our workers’ compensation insurance and general liability (including product liability) insurance plans. We have stop-loss insurance policies to protect from individual losses over specified dollar values. Provisions for losses related to our self-insured liabilities are based upon periodic independent actuarially determined estimates that consider a number of factors including historical claims experience, loss development factors, and severity factors.
The full extent of certain workers’ compensation and general liability claims may not become fully determined for several
years. Our self-insured liabilities contain uncertainties because management is required to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate the ultimate cost to settle reported claims and claims incurred but not reported as of the balance sheet date based upon historical data and experience, including actuarial calculations.
We have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology used to establish our self-insurance reserves in the financial periods presented. We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the assumptions we use to calculate insurance reserves. However, if we experience a significant increase in the number of claims or the cost associated with these claims, we may be exposed to losses that could be material. A 10% change in our self-insurance reserves as of December 25,
2021, would have affected net income by approximately $8.4 million in fiscal 2021.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets:
Long-lived assets, including lease right-of-use assets, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. When evaluating long-lived assets for potential impairment, we first compare the carrying value of the asset or asset group to its estimated undiscounted future cash flows. The evaluation for long-lived assets is performed at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows, which is generally the individual store level. The significant assumptions used to determine estimated undiscounted cash flows include cash inflows and outflows directly resulting from the use of those assets in operations, including
margin on net sales, payroll and related items, occupancy costs, insurance allocations, and other costs to operate a store. If the estimated future cash flows are less than the carrying value of the related asset, we calculate an impairment loss. The impairment loss calculation compares the carrying value of the related asset or asset group to its estimated fair value, which may be based on an estimated future cash flow model, market valuation, or other valuation technique, as appropriate. We recognize an impairment loss if the amount of the asset’s carrying value exceeds the asset’s estimated fair value. If we recognize an impairment loss, the adjusted carrying amount of the asset becomes its new cost basis. For a depreciable long-lived asset, the new cost basis will be depreciated (amortized) over the remaining estimated useful life of that asset.
Our impairment loss calculations contain
uncertainties because they require management to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate future cash flows and asset fair values.
We have not made any material changes in our impairment loss assessment methodology in the financial periods presented.
We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the estimates or assumptions we use to calculate long-lived asset impairment losses. None of these estimates and assumptions are significantly sensitive, and a 10%
change
in any of these estimates would not have a material impact on our analysis. However, if actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions used in estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, we may be exposed to losses that could be material.
There were no significant long-lived assets impairment charges recognized in fiscal 2021.
Impairment of Goodwill and Other Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets:
Goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment annually, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. In accordance with the accounting standards, an entity has the option first to assess qualitative factors
to determine whether events and circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill or an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. If after such assessment an entity concludes that the asset is not impaired, then the entity is not required to take further action. However, if an entity concludes otherwise, then it is required to determine the fair value of the asset using a quantitative impairment test, and if impaired, the associated assets must be written down to fair value.
The quantitative impairment test for goodwill compares the fair value of a reporting unit with the carrying value of its net assets, including goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value of the reporting unit, an impairment charge would be recorded to the Company’s operations,
for the amount in which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. We determine fair values for each reporting unit using the market approach, when available and appropriate, the income approach, or a combination of both. The income approach involves forecasting projected financial information (such as revenue growth rates, profit margins, tax rates, and capital expenditures) and selecting a discount rate that reflects the risk inherent in estimated future cash flows. Under the market approach, the fair value is based on observed market data. If multiple valuation methodologies are used, the results are weighted appropriately.
The quantitative impairment test for other indefinite-lived intangible assets involves comparing the carrying amount of the asset to the sum of the discounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the implied fair value of
the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than the carrying value, an impairment charge would be recorded to the Company’s operations.
Our impairment loss calculation contains uncertainties because they require management to make assumptions and to apply judgment to qualitative factors as well as estimate future cash flows and asset fair values, including forecasting projected financial information and selecting the discount rate that reflects the risk inherent in future cash flows.
The valuation approaches utilized to estimate fair value for the purposes of the impairment tests of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets require the use of assumptions and estimates, which involve a degree of uncertainty.
If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions used in estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, we may be exposed to non-cash impairment losses that could be material.
There were no goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment charges recognized in fiscal 2021.
The following table
sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain items in the Consolidated Statements of Income expressed as a percentage of net sales.
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
Net sales
100.00
%
100.00
%
Cost
of merchandise sold (a)
64.83
64.58
Gross margin (a)
35.17
35.42
Selling, general and administrative expenses (a)
22.78
23.34
Depreciation
and amortization
2.12
2.04
Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets
—
0.65
Operating income
10.26
9.39
Interest
expense, net
0.21
0.27
Income before income taxes
10.05
9.12
Income tax expense
2.22
2.07
Net income
7.83
%
7.05
%
(a)
Our gross margin amounts may not be comparable to those of other retailers since some retailers include all of the costs related to their distribution facility network in cost of merchandise sold and others (like our Company) exclude a portion of these distribution facility network costs from gross margin and instead include them in selling, general, and administrative expenses; refer to Note 1 – Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Fiscal 2021 Compared to Fiscal 2020
Net sales increased 19.9% to $12.73 billion in fiscal 2021 from $10.62 billion in fiscal 2020. Comparable store sales
increased 16.9% to $12.43 billion versus a 23.1% increase in fiscal 2020. The comparable store average transaction value increased 9.8% and comparable store average transaction count increased 7.1% for fiscal 2021, as compared to an increase of 12.2% and 10.9% in fiscal 2020, respectively.
Our sales performance continued to benefit from the shift of consumer behavior trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic as customers focused on the care of their homes, land, and animals, targeted investments in marketing to increase our unaided brand awareness, and other key initiatives to enhance customers' shopping experience, including the relaunch of the Neighbor's Club loyalty program. These factors led to growth in new customer acquisition and increased spend from existing customers, which further resulted in an increase in comparable store sales across all major product categories, driven by robust growth
for everyday merchandise, including C.U.E. products, and solid demand for seasonal categories. In addition, the Company’s e-commerce sales experienced double-digit percentage growth in fiscal 2021 as compared to fiscal 2020.
In addition to comparable store sales growth in fiscal 2021, sales from stores opened less than one year were $324.6 million in fiscal 2021, which represented 3.1 percentage points of the 19.9% increase over fiscal 2020 net sales. Sales from stores opened less than one year were $355.3 million in fiscal 2020, which represented 4.3 percentage points of the 27.2% increase over fiscal 2019 net sales.
The
following table summarizes our store growth during fiscal 2021 and 2020:
Fiscal Year
Store Count Information:
2021
2020
Tractor Supply
Beginning
of period
1,923
1,844
New stores opened
80
80
Stores closed
—
(1)
End of period
2,003
1,923
Petsense
Beginning
of period
182
180
New stores opened
7
9
Stores closed
(11)
(7)
End of period
178
182
Consolidated
end of period
2,181
2,105
Stores relocated
3
1
The following table indicates the percentage of net sales represented by each of our major product categories during fiscal 2021 and 2020:
Percent
of Net Sales
Fiscal Year
Product Category:
2021
2020
Livestock and Pet
47
%
47
%
Hardware, Tools and Truck
21
21
Seasonal,
Gift and Toy Products
21
21
Clothing and Footwear
8
7
Agriculture
3
4
Total
100
%
100
%
Gross
profit increased 19.0% to $4.48 billion in fiscal 2021 compared to $3.76 billion in fiscal 2020. As a percent of net sales, gross margin decreased 25 basis points to 35.2% for fiscal 2021 compared to 35.4% for fiscal 2020. The decrease in gross margin as a percentage of net sales was primarily driven by higher product cost inflation, higher transportation costs driven by increased pressures on domestic freight, import freight, and rising fuel prices, and product mix shift towards C.U.E. products, which run at a slightly lower margin rate. Partially offsetting the decrease was the Company's price management program and limited promotional and clearance activity, which effectively offset a significant portion of the inflation and transportation pressures.
Total selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”)
expenses, including depreciation and amortization and asset impairment, increased 14.7% to $3.17 billion in fiscal 2021 from $2.76 billion in fiscal 2020. SG&A expenses, as a percent of net sales, improved 113 basis points to 24.9% in fiscal 2021 from 26.0% in fiscal 2020. The SG&A expenses in fiscal 2020 were impacted by discrete non-cash impairment charges for the Petsense business of $74.1 million due primarily to a strategic reassessment of the business and a decision to reduce the number of new store openings planned over the long term and, to a lesser extent, the impairment of long-lived assets at underperforming locations.On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of the discrete impairment charges in the prior year, SG&A expenses increased 17.8% to $3.17 billion in fiscal 2021 from $2.69 billion in fiscal 2020. On an adjusted basis, SG&A expenses, as a percent of net sales,
improved 43 basis points to 24.9% in fiscal 2021 from 25.3% in fiscal 2020. The improvement in SG&A as a percent as net sales was primarily attributable to strong leverage in occupancy and other fixed costs from the increase in comparable store sales and lower COVID-19 pandemic response costs. COVID-19 pandemic response costs in fiscal 2021 of $63.3 million consisted of sick pay, benefits, and other health and safety related expenses, as compared to $117.1 million in fiscal 2020. The leverage from these SG&A expenses was partially offset by higher store wage rates, additional store labor hours, and investment in the Company's strategic initiatives.
Our effective income tax rate decreased to 22.1% for fiscal 2021 compared to 22.6% in fiscal 2020. The primary drivers for the decrease in the
Company's effective income tax rate were additional benefits from share-based compensation, a reduction in
disallowed executive compensation, and increases in available tax credits, partially offset by a small increase in the Company's provision for state taxes.
Net income in fiscal 2021 was $997.1 million, or $8.61 per diluted share, compared to $749.0 million, or $6.38 per diluted share, in fiscal 2020. The aforementioned non-cash impairment expense related to the Petsense
business had an after-tax impact on fiscal 2020 net income of approximately $57.3 million or $0.49 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, considering the after-tax impact of the non-cash impairment charges related to the Petsense business, net income was $806.2 million, or $6.87 per diluted share, for fiscal 2020. Adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share are non-GAAP measures which have been provided in order to enhance comparability for the periods presented given that the impairment charges related to the Petsense business are non-recurring in nature. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures is included in the following table.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial
Measures
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Fiscal 2020
Impairment (a)
Fiscal 2020
(As Reported)
(Adjustment)
(As
Adjusted)
SG&A (including depreciation and amortization and asset impairment)
$
2,764,621
$
(74,051)
$
2,690,570
Operating
income
$
996,928
$
74,051
$
1,070,979
Income before income taxes
$
968,147
$
74,051
$
1,042,198
Income
tax expense
$
219,189
$
16,765
$
235,954
Net income
$
748,958
$
57,286
$
806,244
Diluted
net income per share
$
6.38
$
0.49
$
6.87
(a) Comprised of $68.97 million of impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets along with $5.08 million of impairment of other long-lived assets related to the Petsense reporting unit
During fiscal 2021, we repurchased approximately 4.4 million shares of the Company’s common stock at
a total cost of $798.9 million as part of our share repurchase program. In fiscal 2020, we repurchased approximately 3.4 million shares at a total cost of $343.0 million. Shares repurchased in fiscal 2020 were impacted by the temporary suspension of our share repurchase program from March 12, 2020 until November 5, 2020, in order to strengthen our liquidity and preserve cash while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fiscal 2020 Compared to Fiscal 2019
For a comparison of our performance and financial metrics for the fiscal years ended December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 18, 2021.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
In addition to normal operating expenses and expenses associated with COVID-19, our primary ongoing cash requirements are for new store expansion, existing store remodeling and improvements, store relocations, distribution facility capacity and improvements, information technology, inventory purchases, repayment of existing borrowings under our debt facilities, share
repurchases, cash dividends, and selective acquisitions as opportunities arise.
Our primary ongoing sources of liquidity are existing cash balances, cash provided from operations, remaining funds available under our debt facilities, operating and finance leases, and normal trade credit. Our inventory and accounts payable levels typically build in the first and third fiscal quarters to support the higher sales volume of the spring and cold-weather selling seasons, respectively.
We believe that our existing cash balances, expected cash flow from future operations, funds available under our debt facilities, operating and finance leases, and normal trade credit will be sufficient to fund our operations, including expenses associated with COVID-19, and our capital expenditure needs, including new store openings, existing
store remodeling and improvements,
store relocations, distribution facility capacity and improvements, and information technology improvements through the end of fiscal 2022. We are not aware of any trends or events that would materially affect our capital requirements or liquidity.
Working Capital
At December 25, 2021, the Company had working capital of $1.19 billion,
which decreased $329.3 million from fiscal 2020. The shifts in working capital were attributable to changes in the following components of current assets and current liabilities (in millions):
In comparison to December 26, 2020, working capital as of December 25, 2021 was impacted most significantly by changes in cash and cash equivalents, inventories, accounts payable and other accrued expenses.
•The decrease in cash and cash equivalents was primarily
driven by share repurchases, capital expenditures to support strategic growth, and cash dividends to stockholders.
•The increase in inventories resulted from an increase in average inventory per store driven by our commitment to support our strong sales trends, along with the impact of inflation and the purchase of additional inventory to support new store growth.
•The increase in accounts payable resulted from the purchase of additional inventory to support new store growth and strong sales volume trends.
•Other accrued expenses increased primarily due to increases in freight and other payables due to the growth in sales.
On
October 30, 2020, the Company issued and sold, in a public offering, $650 million in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due November 1, 2030 bearing interest at 1.75% per annum (the “1.75% Senior Notes”). In support of the issuance of the 1.75% Senior Notes, we obtained credit ratings from Moody's Investor Services and Standard & Poor's.
We manage our business and financial ratios to target an investment-grade bond rating, which has historically allowed flexible access to financing at reasonable market costs. As of December 25, 2021, and the date of this filing, February 17, 2022,
the Company's senior unsecured debt is rated “Baa1,” by Moody’s Investor Services with a stable outlook and “BBB” by Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook. These ratings have been obtained with the understanding that Moody’s Investors Services and Standard & Poor’s will continue to monitor our credit and make future adjustments to these ratings to the extent warranted. The ratings are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold our securities, may be changed, superseded or withdrawn at any time and should be evaluated independently of any other rating.
Our current ratings, as well as future rating agency actions, could impact our ability to finance our operations on satisfactory terms and affect our financing costs. There can be no assurance that we will maintain or improve our
current credit ratings.
We also maintain a $500 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolver”) under the senior credit facility (the "Senior Credit Facility") with a sublimit of $50 million for swingline loans and a sublimit of $150 million for letters of credit.
For additional information about the Company’s debt and credit facilities, refer to Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Sources and Uses of Cash
Our primary source of liquidity is cash provided by operations and funds available under our debt facilities. Principal uses of
cash for investing activities are capital expenditures while principal uses of cash for financing activities are repurchase of the Company’s common stock and cash dividends paid to stockholders.
The following table presents a summary of cash flows provided by or used in operating, investing, and financing activities for fiscal years 2021 and 2020 (in millions):
Fiscal
Year
2021
2020
(52 weeks)
(52 weeks)
Net cash provided by operating activities
$
1,138.7
$
1,394.5
Net cash used in investing activities
(627.3)
(292.2)
Net
cash (used in)/provided by financing activities
(975.1)
155.2
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
$
(463.7)
$
1,257.5
Operating Activities
Operating activities provided cash of $1.14 billion and $1.39 billion in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. The $255.8 million decrease in net cash provided by operating activities
in fiscal 2021, compared to fiscal 2020, was due to changes in the following (in millions):
Fiscal Year
Variance
2021
2020
(52
weeks)
(52 weeks)
Net income
$
997.1
$
749.0
$
248.1
Depreciation and amortization
270.2
217.1
53.1
Impairment
expense
—
74.1
(74.1)
Share-based compensation expense
47.6
37.3
10.3
Deferred income taxes
29.1
(31.7)
60.8
Inventories
and accounts payable
(228.4)
152.6
(381.0)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
(30.5)
(32.8)
2.3
Accrued expenses
127.8
152.4
(24.6)
Income
taxes
(37.0)
14.0
(51.0)
Other, net
(37.2)
62.5
(99.7)
Net cash provided by operating activities
$
1,138.7
$
1,394.5
$
(255.8)
The
$255.8 million decrease in net cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2021, compared to fiscal 2020, is primarily driven by a significant increase in inventory and timing of payments and accruals, partially offset by an increase in our net income.
Investing Activities
Investing activities used cash of $627.3 million and $292.2 million in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. The $335.1 million increase in net cash used in investing activities primarily reflects an increase in capital expenditures in fiscal 2021 compared to fiscal 2020.
Investing
activities, including capital expenditures, for fiscal 2021 and 2020 were as follows (in millions):
Fiscal Year
Variance
2021
2020
(52
weeks)
(52 weeks)
Existing stores
$
326.9
$
73.7
$
253.2
Information technology
124.8
133.0
(8.2)
Distribution
center capacity and improvements
93.3
23.4
69.9
New and relocated stores and stores not yet opened
73.0
58.8
14.2
Corporate and other
10.4
5.1
5.3
Total
capital expenditures
$
628.4
$
294.0
$
334.4
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
(1.1)
(1.8)
0.7
Net cash used in investing activities
$
627.3
$
292.2
$
335.1
The
increase in spending for existing stores in fiscal 2021 as compared to fiscal 2020 principally reflects our strategic initiatives related to store remodels, including internal space productivity and the outside side lot improvements. The spending on information technology represents continued support of our store growth and our omni-channel initiatives, as well as improvements in security and compliance, enhancements and upgrades to our customer loyalty program, mobility in our stores, and other strategic initiatives.
The increase in spending for distribution center capacity and improvements in fiscal 2021 as compared to fiscal 2020 is principally related to beginning construction of a new distribution center in Navarre, Ohio, which is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet and is currently anticipated to be completed in the fall of fiscal 2022.
The
above table reflects an investment in 80 new Tractor Supply stores, and seven new Petsense stores during fiscal 2021. In fiscal 2020, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores, nine new Petsense stores, and had one store relocation.
Our projected capital expenditures for fiscal 2022 are currently estimated to be in a range of approximately $625 million to $675 million. The capital expenditures include a plan to open approximately 75 to 80 new Tractor Supply stores, remodel more than 150 stores and transform the side lots in approximately 100 locations, along with opening 10 new Petsense stores. We also anticipate the opening of our ninth distribution center in Navarre, Ohio in the fall of 2022. Additionally, we plan to begin construction in the middle of fiscal 2022 on a new distribution center in Maumelle, Arkansas, which is currently anticipated to be complete in late 2023. In addition,
we plan to support our continued improvements in technology and infrastructure at our existing stores, and ongoing investments to enhance our digital and omni-channel capabilities to better serve our customers.
Financing Activities
Financing activities used cash of $975.1 million in fiscal 2021, while financing activities provided $155.2 million in fiscal 2020. The $1.13 billion decrease in net cash provided by financing activities in fiscal 2021, compared to fiscal 2020, was due to changes in the following (in millions):
Fiscal
Year
2021
2020
Variance
(52 weeks)
(52 weeks)
Net borrowings and repayments under debt facilities
$
—
$
602.5
$
(602.5)
Repurchase
of common stock
(798.9)
(343.0)
(455.9)
Net proceeds from issuance of common stock
82.2
99.3
(17.1)
Cash dividends paid to stockholders
(239.0)
(174.7)
(64.3)
Other,
net
(19.4)
(28.9)
9.5
Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities
The
decrease in net cash from financing activities in fiscal 2021, compared to fiscal 2020, is principally due to actions taken in fiscal 2020 intended to strengthen our liquidity and preserve cash while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, including borrowings under our debt facilities as well as a temporary suspension of our share repurchase program.
Repurchase of Common Stock
The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized common stock repurchases under a share repurchase program which was announced in February 2007. The authorization amount of the program, which has been increased from time to time, is currently authorized for up to $6.50 billion, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses related to such repurchases. The
currently authorized amount reflects a $2.0 billion increase to the existing share repurchase program which was approved by our Board of Directors on January 26, 2022. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. The repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The timing and amount of any shares repurchased under the program will depend on a variety of factors, including price, corporate and regulatory requirements, capital availability, and other market conditions. Repurchased shares are accounted for at cost and will be held in treasury for future issuance. The program may be limited, temporarily paused, or terminated at any time without prior notice.
We repurchased approximately 4.4 million and 3.4 million
shares of common stock under the share repurchase program at a total cost of $798.9 million and $343.0 million in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 25, 2021, prior to the expanded $2.0 billion repurchase authorization, the Company had remaining authorization under the share repurchase program of $345.0 million, exclusive of any fees, commissions, or other expenses. Shares repurchased in fiscal 2020 were impacted by the temporary suspension of our share repurchase program from March 12, 2020 until November 5, 2020, in order to strengthen our liquidity and preserve cash while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Our projected share repurchases for fiscal 2022 are currently estimated to be in a range of approximately $700 million
to $800 million.
Cash Dividends Paid to Stockholders
We paid cash dividends totaling $239.0 million and $174.7 million in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. In fiscal 2021, we declared and paid cash dividends to stockholders of $2.08 per common share outstanding as compared to $1.50 per common share outstanding in fiscal 2020. These payments reflect an increase in the quarterly dividend in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 to $0.52 per share from $0.40 per share and an increase in the quarterly dividend in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 from $0.35 per share.
It is the present intention of the Company’s Board of Directors to continue to pay a quarterly cash dividend; however, the declaration and payment amount of future dividends will be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend upon the earnings, financial
condition, and capital needs of the Company, along with any other factors which the Company’s Board of Directors deem relevant.
New Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for recently adopted accounting pronouncements and recently issued pronouncements not yet adopted as of December 25, 2021.
Item
7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
We are exposed to interest rate changes, primarily as a result of borrowings under our Senior Credit Facility (as discussed in Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements), which bear interest based on variable rates.
A 1% change in interest rates on our variable rate debt in excess of that amount covered by the interest rate swaps would have affected interest expense by approximately $2.0 million, $2.4 million, and $1.9 million in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Based on the amount of outstanding variable rate debt as of December 25,
2021, excluding those borrowings for which we have interest rate swaps, a 1% change in interest rates would not result in any material increase in our interest expense on a prospective basis.
Although we cannot determine the full effect of inflation and deflation on our operations, we believe our sales and results of operations are affected by both. We are subject to market risk with respect to the pricing of certain products and services, which include, among other items, grain, corn, steel, petroleum, cotton, and other commodities,
as well as duties, tariffs, diesel fuel, and transportation services. Therefore, we may experience both inflationary and deflationary pressure on product cost, which may impact consumer demand and, as a result, sales and gross margin. Our strategy is to reduce or mitigate the effects of purchase price volatility, principally by taking advantage of vendor incentive programs, economies of scale from increased volume of purchases, adjusting retail prices, and selectively buying from the most competitive vendors without sacrificing quality.
Management’s
Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance
with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.
Management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 25, 2021. In making this assessment, management used the criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). Based on this assessment, management believes that, as of December 25, 2021, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.
Ernst
& Young LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm which also audited the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements, has issued a report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, which is included herein.
Report of Independent
Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Tractor Supply Company
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Tractor Supply Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 25, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Tractor Supply Company (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December
25, 2021, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Consolidated Balance Sheets of Tractor Supply Company as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, and the related Consolidated Statements of Income, Comprehensive Income, Stockholders’ Equity, and Cash Flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended December 25, 2021, and the related notes and our report dated February 17, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The
Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards
of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over
financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management
and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Tractor Supply Company
Opinion
on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets of Tractor Supply Company (the Company) as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, the related Consolidated Statements of Income, Comprehensive Income, Stockholders’ Equity and Cash Flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended December 25, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the
Company at December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended December 25, 2021, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have 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 December 25, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework)
and our report dated February 17, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
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 the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated 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.
Estimate
of Workers' Compensation Self-Insurance Reserves
Description of the Matter
At December 25, 2021, the Company’s reserve for workers’ compensation self-insurance risks was $67.1 million. As discussed in Note 1 of the consolidated financial statements, the Company retains a significant portion of risk for its workers’ compensation exposures. Accordingly, provisions are recorded based upon periodic estimates of such losses, as determined by management. The future claim costs for workers’ compensation exposures are estimated using actuarial methods that consider assumptions for a number of factors including, but not limited to, historical
claims experience, loss development factors, and severity factors.
Auditing management’s estimate of the recorded workers’ compensation self-insurance reserves was complex and judgmental due to the significant assumptions and judgments required by management to project the exposure on incurred claims that remain unresolved, including those which have not yet been reported to the Company.
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design, and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s accounting for worker’ compensation self-insurance exposures. For example, we tested controls over the appropriateness of management’s review of the significant assumptions described above, including the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data, as well as management’s review of the actuarial calculations.
To test the Company’s estimate of the workers’ compensation self-insurance reserves, we performed audit
procedures that included, among others, assessing the appropriateness of the actuarial valuation methodologies utilized by management and the significant assumptions within, testing the related underlying data used by the Company in its evaluation for completeness and accuracy, and testing the mathematical accuracy of the calculations. Our audit procedures also included, among others, comparing the significant assumptions used by management to industry accepted actuarial assumptions and reassessing the accuracy of management’s historical estimates utilized in prior period evaluations. We involved our actuarial valuation specialists to assist in assessing the valuation methodologies and significant assumptions noted above and to develop an independent range of estimates for the workers’ compensation self-insurance reserves which were then compared to management’s estimates.
Preferred
Stock (shares in thousands): $ii1.00/
par value; ii40/ shares authorized; iino/
shares were issued or outstanding during any period presented.
Common Stock (shares in thousands): $ii0.008/
par value; ii400,000/ shares authorized at all
periods presented. i176,371 and i175,128 shares issued; i113,125
and i116,246 shares outstanding at December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively.
Founded in 1938, Tractor Supply Company (the “Company” or "Tractor Supply" or “we” or “our” or “us”) is the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States (“U.S.”). The Company is focused on supplying the needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle (which we refer to as the “Out Here” lifestyle). The Company's stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. The Company also owns and operates Petsense, LLC (“Petsense”), a small-box pet
specialty supply retailer focused on meeting the needs of pet owners, primarily in small and mid-sized communities, and offering a variety of pet products and services. At December 25, 2021, the Company operated a total of i2,181 retail stores in i49
states (i2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and i178 Petsense retail stores) and also offered an expanded assortment of products through the Tractor Supply Company mobile application and online at TractorSupply.com
and Petsense.com.
On February 17, 2021, the Company announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Orscheln Farm and Home, LLC, a farm and ranch retailer with i167 retail stores in i11
states, in an all-cash transaction for approximately $i320 million. The Company intends to fund the acquisition through cash-on-hand. The acquisition is conditioned on the receipt of regulatory clearance and the satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions within a specified timeframe.
/
iBasis
of Presentation
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant public health concerns as well as economic disruption, uncertainty, and
volatility which may negatively affect our business operations. As a result, as the pandemic persists and/or if it worsens, our accounting estimates and assumptions could be impacted in subsequent periods, and it is reasonably possible such changes could be significant.
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
i
Management Estimates
The
preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP inherently requires estimates and assumptions by management of the Company that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Significant estimates and assumptions by management primarily impact the following key financial statement areas:
i
Inventory
Valuation
Inventory Impairment Risk
The Company identifies potentially excess and slow-moving inventory by evaluating turn rates, historical and expected future sales trends, age of merchandise, overall inventory levels, current cost of inventory, and other benchmarks. The Company has established an inventory valuation reserve to recognize the estimated impairment in value (i.e., an inability to realize the full carrying value) based on the Company’s aggregate assessment of these valuation indicators under prevailing market conditions and current merchandising strategies. The
Company does not believe its merchandise inventories are subject to significant risk of obsolescence in the near term. However, changes in market conditions or consumer purchasing patterns could result in the need for additional reserves.
i
Shrinkage
The Company typically performs physical inventories at least once a year for each store that has been open more than 12 months, and the
Company has established a reserve for estimating inventory shrinkage between physical inventory counts. The reserve is established by assessing the chain-wide average shrinkage experience rate, applied to the related periods’ sales volumes. Such assessments are updated on a regular basis for the most recent individual store experiences. The estimated store inventory shrink rate is based on historical experience. The Company believes historical rates are a reasonably accurate reflection of future trends.
The Company assessed the risks associated with the stores not inventoried and concluded there is no material risk of misstatement to the financial statements for the stores not inventoried and further concluded
that effective compensating controls are in place to ensure completeness and accuracy of reported inventory balances and estimated shrink losses.
i
Vendor Funding
The Company receives funding from substantially all of its significant merchandise vendors, in support of its business initiatives, through a variety of programs and arrangements, including guaranteed vendor support funds (“vendor support”) and volume-based rebate funds
(“volume rebates”). The amounts received are subject to terms of vendor agreements, most of which are “evergreen,” reflecting the on-going relationship with our significant merchandise vendors. Certain of the Company’s agreements, primarily volume rebates, are renegotiated annually, based on expected annual purchases of the vendor’s product. Vendor funding is initially deferred as a reduction of the purchase price of inventory, and then recognized as a reduction of cost of merchandise sold as the related inventory is sold.
During interim periods, the amount of vendor support and volume rebates are estimated based upon initial commitments and anticipated purchase levels with applicable vendors. The estimated purchase volume (and related vendor funding) is based on the
Company’s current knowledge of inventory levels, sales trends and expected customer demand, as well as planned new store openings and relocations. Although the Company believes it can reasonably estimate purchase volume and related volume rebates at interim periods, it is possible that actual year-end results could be different from previously estimated amounts.
Self-Insurance Reserves
The Company self-insures a significant portion of its workers’ compensation and general liability (including product liability) insurance plans. The Company has stop-loss
insurance policies to protect it from individual losses over specified dollar values. Our deductible or self-insured retention, as applicable, for each claim involving workers’ compensation insurance and general liability insurance is limited to $i500,000 and our Texas Work Injury Policy is limited to $i500,000. Further,
we maintain a commercially reasonable umbrella/excess policy that covers liabilities in excess of the primary insurance policy limits.
The full extent of certain workers’ compensation and general liability claims may not become fully determined for several years. Therefore, the Company estimates potential obligations based upon historical claims experience, loss development factors, severity factors, and other actuarial assumptions. Although the Company believes the reserves established for these obligations are reasonably estimated, any significant change in the number of claims or costs associated with claims made under these plans could have a material effect on the
Company’s financial results. At December 25, 2021, the Company had insurance reserves for workers' compensation of $i67.1 million compared to $i55.0
million at December 26, 2020. Insurance reserves for general liability plans was $i41.3 million at December 25, 2021 compared to $i31.7 million
at December 26, 2020. In addition, insurance receivables recorded in Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets for claims greater than our insurance stop-loss limits were $i14.9 million and $i11.2 million
as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020.
Long-lived
assets, including lease right-of-use assets, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.
When evaluating long-lived assets for potential impairment, the Company first compares the carrying value of the asset or asset group to its estimated undiscounted future cash flows. The evaluation for long-lived assets is performed at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows, which is generally the individual store level. The significant assumptions used to determine estimated undiscounted cash flows include cash inflows and outflows directly resulting from the use of those assets in operations, including margin on net sales, payroll and related items, occupancy costs, insurance allocations and other costs to operate a store. If
the estimated future cash flows are less than the carrying value of the related asset, the Company calculates an impairment loss. The impairment loss calculation compares the carrying value of the related asset or asset group to its estimated fair value, which may be based on an estimated future cash flow model, market valuation, or other valuation technique, as appropriate. The Company recognizes an impairment loss if the amount of the asset’s carrying value exceeds the asset’s estimated fair value. If the Company recognizes an impairment loss, the adjusted carrying amount of the asset becomes its new cost basis. For a depreciable long-lived asset, the new cost basis will be depreciated (amortized) over the remaining
estimated useful life of that asset.
iiNo/
significant impairment charges were recognized in fiscal 2021 or 2019 related to long-lived assets. In fiscal 2020, we recognized $i5.1 million of impairment charges related to long-lived assets for Petsense stores. Impairment charges, if recognized, are included in selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income.
/
i
Impairment
of Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets
Goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment annually, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Our annual impairment evaluation is conducted on the first day of our fiscal fourth quarter.
In accordance with the accounting standards, an entity has the option first to assess qualitative factors to determine whether events and circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill or an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. If after such assessment an entity concludes that the asset is not impaired, then the entity is not required to take further action. However, if an entity concludes otherwise, then it is required to determine the fair value of the asset using a quantitative impairment
test, and if impaired, the associated assets must be written down to fair value.
The quantitative impairment test for goodwill compares the fair value of a reporting unit with the carrying value of its net assets, including goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value of the reporting unit, an impairment charge would be recorded to the Company’s operations, for the amount in which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. We determine fair values for each reporting unit using the market approach, when available and appropriate, the income approach, or a combination of both. The income approach involves forecasting projected financial information (such as revenue growth rates, profit margins, tax rates, and capital expenditures) and selecting
a discount rate that reflects the risk inherent in estimated future cash flows. Under the market approach, the fair value is based on observed market data. If multiple valuation methodologies are used, the results are weighted appropriately.
The quantitative impairment test for other indefinite-lived intangible assets involves comparing the carrying amount of the asset to the sum of the discounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the implied fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than the carrying value, an impairment charge would be recorded to the Company’s operations.
iiNo/
impairment charges were recognized in fiscal 2021 or 2019 related to indefinite-lived intangible assets. As described in further detail in Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, in fiscal 2020 we recognized goodwill impairment of $i60.8 million and trade name asset impairment of $i8.2 million
related to Petsense. Impairment charges, if recognized, are included as a separate line item within SG&A expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income.
/
Revenue Recognition and Sales Returns
iThe Company recognizes
revenue at the time the customer takes possession of merchandise. If the Company receives payment before completion of its customer obligations (as per the Company’s special order and layaway programs), the revenue is deferred until the customer takes possession of the merchandise and the sale is complete.
iThe
Company is required to collect certain taxes and fees from customers on behalf of government agencies and remit such collections to the applicable governmental agency on a periodic basis. These taxes and fees are collected from customers at the time of purchase but are not included in net sales. The Company records a liability upon collection from the customer and relieves the liability when payments are remitted to the applicable governmental agency.
iThe
Company estimates a liability for sales returns based on a rolling average of historical return trends, and the Company believes that its estimate for sales returns is an accurate reflection of future returns associated with past sales. However, as with any estimate, refund activity may vary from estimated amounts. The Company had a liability for sales returns of $i17.9
million and $i14.2 million as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively./
iThe
Company recognizes revenue when a gift card or merchandise return card is redeemed by the customer and recognizes income when the likelihood of the gift card or merchandise return card being redeemed by the customer is remote (referred to as “breakage”). The gift cards and merchandise return card breakage rate is based upon historical redemption patterns and income is recognized for unredeemed gift cards and merchandise return cards in proportion to those historical redemption patterns. The Company recognized breakage income of $i4.2
million, $i3.6 million, and $i3.0 million in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively./
i
Cost
of Merchandise Sold
Cost of merchandise sold includes the total cost of products sold; freight and duty expenses associated with moving merchandise inventories from vendors to distribution facilities, from distribution facilities to retail stores, from one distribution facility to another, and directly to our customers; tariffs on imported products; vendor support; damaged, junked or defective product; cash discounts from payments to merchandise vendors; and adjustments for shrinkage (physical inventory losses), lower of cost or net realizable value, slow moving product, and excess inventory quantities.
i
Selling,
General and Administrative Expenses
SG&A expenses include payroll and benefit costs for retail, distribution facility, and corporate employees; share-based compensation expenses; occupancy costs of retail, distribution, and corporate facilities; advertising; tender costs, including bank charges and costs associated with credit and debit card interchange fees; outside service fees; and other administrative costs, such as computer maintenance, supplies, travel, and lodging.
i
Advertising Costs
Advertising
costs consist of expenses incurred in connection with digital and social media offerings, television, newspaper circulars, and customer-targeted direct e-mail and direct mail, as well as limited events through radio and other media channels. Costs are expensed when incurred with the exception of television advertising and circular and direct mail promotions, which are expensed upon first showing. Advertising expenses were approximately $i95.4 million, $i100.9
million, and $i86.6 million for fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Prepaid advertising costs were approximately $i1.7 million and $i1.6
million as of December 25, 2021, and December 26, 2020, respectively.
/
i
Warehousing and Distribution Facility Costs
Costs incurred at the Company’s distribution facilities
for receiving, warehousing, and preparing product for delivery are expensed as incurred and are included in SG&A expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income. Because the Company does not include these costs in cost of sales, the Company’s gross margin may not be comparable to other retailers that include these costs in the calculation of gross margin. Distribution facility costs including depreciation were approximately $i367.4
million, $i292.6 million, and $i231.5 million for fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
/
i
Pre-Opening
Costs
Non-capital expenditures incurred in connection with opening new stores, primarily payroll and rent, are expensed as incurred. Pre-opening costs were approximately $i10.4 million, $i8.6
million, and $i8.1 million for fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
The Company has share-based compensation plans covering certain members of management and non-employee directors, which include non-qualified stock options, restricted stock units, and performance-based restricted share units. Performance-based restricted share units are subject to performance conditions that include both Company and market performance. In addition, the Company offers an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) to eligible employees.
The Company estimates the fair value of its stock option awards at the date of grant utilizing a
Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Black-Scholes option valuation model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of short-term traded options that have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable. However, key assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model are adjusted to incorporate the unique characteristics of the Company’s stock option awards. Option pricing models and generally accepted valuation techniques require management to make subjective assumptions including expected stock price volatility, expected dividend yield, risk-free interest rate, expected term and forfeiture rates. The Company relies on historical volatility trends to estimate
future volatility assumptions. The risk-free interest rates used were actual U.S. Treasury Constant Maturity rates for bonds matching the expected term of the option on the date of grant. The expected term of the option on the date of grant was estimated based on the Company’s historical experience for similar options.
The forfeiture rate at the time of valuation was estimated based on historical experience for similar options and reduces expense ratably over the vesting period. The Company adjusts this estimate periodically, based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from the previous estimate.
The fair
value of the Company’s restricted stock units is the closing stock price of the Company’s common stock the day preceding the grant date, discounted for the expected dividend yield over the term of the award. The fair value of the Company's performance-based restricted share units is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model on the grant date. Key assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation include expected volatility, dividend yield and risk-free interest rate.
The Company believes its estimates are reasonable in the context of historical experience. Future
results will depend on, among other matters, levels of share-based compensation granted in the future, actual forfeiture rates, and the timing of option exercises.
i
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation includes expenses related to all retail, distribution facility, and corporate assets. Amortization includes expenses related to definite-lived intangible assets.
i
Income
Taxes
The Company uses the asset and liability method to account for income taxes whereby deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between the financial carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that are anticipated to be in effect when temporary differences reverse or are settled. The effect of a tax rate change is recognized in the period in which the law is enacted in the provision for income taxes. The Company records a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized.
i
Tax
Contingencies
The Company’s income tax returns are periodically audited by U.S. federal and state tax authorities. These audits include questions regarding tax filing positions, including the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. At any time, multiple tax years are subject to audit by the various tax authorities. In evaluating the exposures associated with the Company’s various tax filing positions, the Company records a liability for uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. A number of years may elapse before a particular matter, for which the
Company has established a reserve, is audited and fully resolved or clarified. The Company recognizes the effect of income tax positions only if those positions are more likely than not of being sustained. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. The Company adjusts its tax contingencies reserve and income tax provision in the period in which actual results of a settlement with tax authorities differs from the established reserve, the statute of limitations expires for the relevant tax authority to examine the tax position or when more information becomes available.
A portion of the Company’s sales are to tax-exempt customers, predominantly agricultural-based. The Company obtains exemption information as a necessary part of each tax-exempt transaction. Many of the states in which the Company conducts business will perform audits to verify the Company’s compliance with applicable sales tax laws. The business activities of the Company’s customers and the intended use of the unique products sold by the
Company create a challenging and complex tax compliance environment. These circumstances also create some risk that the Company could be challenged as to the accuracy of the Company’s sales tax compliance.
The Company reviews past audit experience and assessments with applicable states to continually determine if it has potential exposure for non-compliance. Any estimated liability is based on an initial assessment of compliance risk and historical experience with each state. The Company continually reassesses the exposure based on historical audit results,
changes in policies, preliminary and final assessments made by state sales tax auditors, and additional documentation that may be provided to reduce the assessment. The reserve for these tax audits can fluctuate depending on numerous factors, including the complexity of agricultural-based exemptions, the ambiguity in state tax regulations, the number of ongoing audits, and the length of time required to settle with the state taxing authorities.
iNet Income Per Share
The
Company presents both basic and diluted net income per share on the Consolidated Statements of Income. Basic net income per share is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average diluted shares outstanding during the period. Dilutive shares are computed using the treasury stock method for share-based awards. Performance-based restricted share units are included in diluted shares only if the related performance conditions have been considered satisfied as of the end of the reporting period.
i
Cash
and Cash Equivalents
Temporary cash investments, with a maturity of three months or less when purchased, are considered to be cash equivalents. The majority of payments due from banks for customer credit cards are classified as cash and cash equivalents, as they generally settle within i24 - i48
hours.
Sales generated through the Company’s private label credit cards are not reflected as accounts receivable. Under an agreement with Citi Cards, a division of Citigroup, consumer and business credit is extended directly to customers by Citigroup. All credit program and related services are performed and controlled directly by Citigroup. Payments due from Citigroup are classified as cash and cash equivalents as they generally settle within i24
- i48 hours.
/
i
Fair
Value of Financial Instruments
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The Company uses a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions.
The
Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, short-term receivables, trade payables, debt instruments, and interest rate swaps. Due to their short-term nature, the carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, short-term receivables, and trade payables approximate current fair value at each balance sheet date. The Company had $ii1.00/
billion in borrowings under our debt facilities (as discussed in Note 4) as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020. Based on current market interest rates (Level 2 inputs), the carrying value of our borrowings under our debt facilities approximates fair value for each period reported. The fair value of the Company’s interest rate swaps is determined based on the present value of expected future cash flows using forward rate curves (a Level 2 input). The fair value of the interest rate swaps, excluding accrued interest, was a net asset of $i1.8 million
and net liability $i4.4 million as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively.
The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments in accordance with applicable accounting standards for such instruments and hedging activities, which require that all derivatives are recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of derivatives depends on the intended use of the derivative, whether the Company has elected to designate a derivative in a hedging relationship and apply hedge accounting and whether the hedging relationship has satisfied the criteria necessary to apply hedge accounting.
Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure
to changes in the fair value of an asset, liability, or firm commitment attributable to a particular risk are considered fair value hedges. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the recognition of the changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk in a fair value hedge or the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge. The Company may enter into derivative contracts that are intended to economically hedge a certain portion of its risk, even
though hedge accounting does not apply or the Company elects not to apply the hedge accounting standards.
The fair value of the interest rate swaps, excluding accrued interest, was a net asset of $i1.8 million and net liability $i4.4
million as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively.
/
i
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, as determined by the average cost method, or net realizable value. Inventory cost consists of the direct cost of merchandise including freight, duties, and tariffs. Inventories
are net of shrinkage, obsolescence, other valuations, and vendor allowances.
ii
Property and Equipment
Property
and equipment are initially recorded at cost. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Improvements to leased premises are amortized using the straight-line method over the remaining term of the lease or the useful life of the improvement, whichever is less. The following table summarizes the Company's property and equipment balances and includes the estimated useful lives which are generally applied (in thousands, except estimated useful lives):
The
Company entered into agreements with various governmental entities in the states of Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee to implement tax abatement plans related to its distribution center in Franklin, Kentucky (Simpson County), its distribution center in Macon, Georgia (Bibb County), its distribution center in Navarre, Ohio (Stark County) and its Store Support Center in Brentwood, Tennessee (Williamson County). The tax abatement plans provide for reduction of real property taxes for specified time frames by legally transferring title to its real property in exchange for industrial revenue bonds. This property was then leased back to the Company. No cash was exchanged.
The
lease payments are equal to the amount of the payments on the bonds. The tax abatement period extends through the term of the lease, which coincides with the maturity date of the bonds. At any time, the Company has the option to purchase the real property by paying off the bonds, plus $i1. iThe
terms and amounts authorized and drawn under each industrial revenue bond agreement are outlined as follows, as of December 25, 2021:
Bond Term
Bond Authorized Amount
(in millions)
Amount
Drawn
(in millions)
Franklin, Kentucky Distribution Center
i30 years
$i54.0
$i51.8
Macon,
Georgia Distribution Center
i15 years
$i58.0
$i58.0
Brentwood,
Tennessee Store Support Center
i10 years
$i78.0
$i75.3
Navarre,
Ohio Distribution Center
i30 years
$i90.0
$i—
Due
to the form of these transactions, the Company has not recorded the bonds or the lease obligation associated with the sale lease-back transaction. The original cost of the Company’s property and equipment is recorded on the balance sheet and is being depreciated over its estimated useful life.
i
Capitalized Software Costs
The
Company capitalizes certain costs related to the acquisition and development of software and amortizes these costs using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the software, which is two to seven years. Computer software consists of software developed for internal-use and third-party software purchased for internal-use. A subsequent addition, modification or upgrade to internal-use software is capitalized to the extent that it enhances the software’s functionality or extends its useful life. These costs are included in property and equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Certain software costs not meeting the criteria for capitalization are expensed as incurred.
i
Store
Closing Costs
The Company regularly evaluates the performance of its stores and periodically closes those stores that are underperforming. The Company records a liability for costs associated with an exit or disposal activity when the liability is incurred, usually in the period the store closes. Store closing costs were not significant to the results of operations for any of the fiscal years presented.
i
Leases
Operating
lease assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date. Operating lease liabilities represent the present value of lease payments not yet paid. Operating lease assets represent our right to use an underlying asset and are based upon the operating lease liabilities adjusted for prepayments or accrued lease payments, initial direct costs, lease incentives, and impairment, if any, of operating lease assets. To determine the present value of lease payments not yet paid, we estimate incremental borrowing rates corresponding to the reasonably certain lease term. As substantially all of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we estimate our collateralized incremental borrowing rate based upon a Company specific credit rating and yield curve analysis at commencement or modification date in determining the present value of lease payments.
Assets
under finance leases are amortized in accordance with the Company’s normal depreciation policy for owned assets or over the lease term, if shorter, and the related charge to operations is included in depreciation expense in the Consolidated Statements of Income.
i
New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
In
March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope." This collective guidance is in response to accounting concerns regarding contract modifications and hedge accounting because of impending rate reform associated with structural risks of interbank offered rates ("IBOR"s), and, particularly, the risk of cessation of the London Inter-Bank Offer Rate ("LIBOR") related to regulators in several jurisdictions around the world having undertaken reference rate reform initiatives to identify alternative reference rates. The guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts,
hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The adoption of this guidance is effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020
through December 31, 2022. The primary contract and hedging relationship for which LIBOR is used is our November 2020 Term Loan (as defined below) and related interest rate swap. As the interest rate swap is designed to be a highly effective cash flow hedge against the variable LIBOR
rates of the Term Loan, the impact of using LIBOR rates is effectively offset in our financial statements. As such, the Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.
Note 2 – iShare-Based
Compensation:
Share-based compensation includes stock options, restricted stock units, performance-based restricted share units, and certain transactions under the Company’s ESPP. Share-based compensation expense is recognized based on the grant date fair value of all stock options, restricted stock units, and performance-based restricted share units. Share based compensation expense is also recognized for the value of the i15%
discount on shares purchased by employees as a part of the ESPP. The discount under the ESPP represents the difference between the market value on the first day of the purchase period or the market value on the purchase date, whichever is lower, and the employee’s purchase price.
There were no significant modifications to the Company's share-based compensation plans since the adoption of the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”) on May 10, 2018, which replaced the 2009 Stock Incentive Plan. Following the adoption of the 2018 Plan, no further grants may be made under the 2009 Stock Incentive Plan.
Under our share-based compensation plans, awards may be granted
to officers, non-employee directors, and other employees. The per share exercise price of options granted shall not be less than the fair market value of the stock on the date of grant and such awards will expire no later than ten years from the date of grant. Vesting of awards commences at various anniversary dates following the dates of each grant. Performance-based awards will vest if established performance conditions are met subject to continued employment. Certain performance-based awards are also subject to a market condition such that the actual number of shares vest are further modified based on the achievement of a relative stockholder return modifier. At December 25, 2021, the Company had approximately i9.9
million shares available for future equity awards under the Company’s 2018 Plan.
Share-based compensation expense, including changes in expense for modifications, if any, of awards, was $i47.6 million, $i37.3 million,
and $i31.1 million for fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
Stock Options
The fair value is separately estimated for each option grant. The fair value of each option is recognized as compensation expense ratably over the vesting period. The Company has estimated the fair value of all stock option awards as of the date of the grant by
applying a Black-Scholes pricing valuation model. The application of this valuation model involves assumptions that are judgmental and highly sensitive in the determination of compensation expense. iThe ranges of key assumptions used in determining the fair value of options granted during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, as well as a summary of the methodology applied to develop each assumption, are as follows:
Fiscal
Year
2021
2020
2019
Expected price volatility
i29.8%
- i30.3%
i26.7%
- i30.0%
i26.4%
- i27.6%
Risk-free interest rate
i0.3%
- i1.0%
i0.2%
- i1.3%
i1.6%
- i2.5%
Weighted average expected lives (in years)
i4.3
i4.3
i4.5
Forfeiture
rate
i7.0
%
i7.0
%
i7.3
%
Dividend
yield
i1.5
%
i1.5
%
i1.4
%
Expected
Price Volatility — This is a measure of the amount by which a price has fluctuated or is expected to fluctuate. The Company applies a historical volatility rate. To calculate historical changes in market value, the Company uses daily market value changes from the date of grant over a past period generally representative of the expected life of the options to determine volatility. The Company believes the use of historical price volatility provides an appropriate indicator of future volatility. An increase in the expected volatility will increase compensation expense.
Risk-Free Interest Rate
— This is the U.S. Treasury Constant Maturity rate over a term equal to the expected term of the option. An increase in the risk-free interest rate will increase compensation expense.
Weighted Average Expected Term — This is the period of time over which the options granted are expected to remain outstanding and is based on historical experience. Options granted generally have a maximum term of ten years. An increase in the expected term will increase compensation expense.
Forfeiture Rate —
This is the estimated percentage of options granted that are expected to be forfeited or canceled before becoming fully vested. This estimate is based on historical experience. An increase in the forfeiture rate will decrease compensation expense.
Dividend Yield — This is the estimated dividend yield for the weighted average expected term of the option granted. An increase in the dividend yield will decrease compensation expense.
The Company issues shares for options when exercised. iA
summary of stock option activity is as follows:
The
aggregate intrinsic values in the table above represent the total difference between the Company’s closing stock price at each year-end and the option exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options at each year-end. As of December 25, 2021, total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock options was approximately $i8.4
million with a weighted average expense recognition period of i1.8 years.
There were no material modifications to options in fiscal 2021, 2020, or 2019.
i
Other
information relative to options activity during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019 is as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
2019
Total fair
value of stock options vested
$
i8,478
$
i12,546
$
i16,060
Total
intrinsic value of stock options exercised
$
i90,532
$
i64,395
$
i45,101
/
Restricted
Stock Units
The Company issues shares for restricted stock units once vesting occurs and related restrictions lapse. The fair value of the restricted stock units is the closing price of the Company’s common stock the day preceding the grant date, discounted for the expected dividend yield over the term of the award. The units generally vest over a one to three-year term. Some plan participants have elected to defer receipt of shares of common stock upon vesting of restricted stock units, and as a result, those shares are not issued until a later date. iA
summary of restricted stock unit activity is presented below:
As
of December 25, 2021, total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock units was approximately $i36.4 million with a weighted average expense recognition period of i1.9
years.
There were no material modifications to restricted stock units in fiscal 2021, 2020, or 2019.
i
Other information relative to restricted stock unit activity during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019 is as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal
Year
2021
2020
2019
Total grant date fair value of restricted stock units vested and issued
$
i25,222
$
i17,935
$
i8,301
Total
intrinsic value of restricted stock units vested and issued
$
i47,136
$
i23,011
$
i10,623
/
Performance-Based
Restricted Share Units
We issue performance-based restricted share units to senior executives that represent shares potentially issuable in the future, subject to the achievement of specified performance goals. The performance metrics for the units are growth in net sales and growth in earnings per diluted share over a specified performance period. The performance metrics for the performance-based restricted share units granted in fiscal 2021 also include a relative total shareholder return ("TSR") modifier such that the actual number of shares that vest at the end of the respective three-year period is determined based on the Company's TSR performance relative to the constituents of the S&P 500 as well as the level of achievement of the performance goals. If the performance targets are achieved,
the performance-based restricted share units will be issued based on the achievement level, inclusive of the relative TSR modifier and the grant date fair value, and will cliff vest in full on the third anniversary of the date of the grant. The fair value of the performance-based restricted share units is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model on the grant date. Key assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation for the performance shares with a TSR modifier granted during fiscal 2021 include an expected volatility of i31.47%,
a risk-free interest rate of i0.18% and a compounded dividend yield of i1.13%.
i
A summary of performance-based restricted share unit activity is presented below:
(a)Assumes
100% target level achievement of the relative performance targets. The actual number of shares that will be issued, which may be higher or lower than the target, will be determined by the level of achievement of the relative performance targets, inclusive of the TSR modifier.
As of December 25, 2021, total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested performance-based restricted share units was approximately $i17.4
million with a weighted average expense recognition period of i1.9 years
There were no material modifications to performance-based restricted share units in fiscal 2021, 2020, or 2019.
Other information relative to performance-based restricted share unit activity during fiscal 2021
is as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
2019
Total grant date fair value of performance-based restricted share
units vested and issued
$
i648
$
i1,895
$
i2,035
Total
intrinsic value of performance-based restricted share units vested and issued
Shares Withheld to Satisfy Tax Withholding Requirements
For the majority of restricted stock units and performance-based restricted share units granted, the number of shares issued on the date the stock awards vest is net of shares withheld by the Company to satisfy the minimum statutory tax withholding requirements, which the Company pays on behalf of its employees. The
Company issued i219,723, i186,751,
and i103,124 shares as a result of vested restricted stock units and performance-based restricted share units during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Although shares withheld are not issued, they are treated similar to common stock repurchases as they reduce the number of shares that would have been issued upon vesting. The amounts are net of i95,996,
i81,946, and i41,786 shares withheld
to satisfy $i14.9 million, $i7.8 million,
and $i3.8 million of employees’ tax obligations during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The ESPP provides Company employees the opportunity to purchase, through payroll deductions, shares of common stock at a i15%
discount. Pursuant to the terms of the ESPP, the Company issued i48,446, i63,704,
and i61,678 shares of common stock during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. The total cost related to the ESPP, including the compensation expense calculations, was approximately $i1.4
million, $i1.4 million, and $i1.1 million in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. There is a maximum of i16.0
million shares of common stock that are reserved under the ESPP. At December 25, 2021, there were approximately i11.8 million remaining shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the ESPP.
Note 3 – iGoodwill
and Other Intangible Assets:
Goodwill
The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by reporting unit for the years ended December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020 are as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal
Year 2021
Fiscal Year 2020
Tractor Supply
Petsense
Consolidated
Tractor Supply
Petsense
Consolidated
Balance, beginning of year
$
i10,258
$
i22,161
$
i32,419
$
i10,258
$
i82,934
$
i93,192
Impairment
expense
i—
i—
i—
i—
(i60,773)
(i60,773)
Balance,
end of year
$
i10,258
$
i22,161
$
i32,419
$
i10,258
$
i22,161
$
i32,419
Goodwill
is allocated to each identified reporting unit, which is defined as an operating segment or one level below the operating segment. Goodwill is not amortized, but is evaluated for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable. The Company's annual impairment evaluation is conducted on the first day of the fiscal fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company completed its annual impairment assessment of goodwill for all reporting units. As part of this analysis, the Company assessed the current environment
to determine if there were any indicators of impairment as a result of the operating conditions resulting from COVID-19 or otherwise and concluded, that while there have been events and circumstances in the macro-environment that have impacted the Company's business, there were no any entity-specific indicators of impairment of goodwill that would require the Company to perform a quantitative impairment assessment. Therefore, there were ino
impairment charges related to goodwill being recognized in fiscal 2021.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, the Company identified qualitative indicators of impairment as a result of a strategic reassessment of the Petsense business, including an evaluation of current operations and its future growth outlook due to changing consumer trends within certain identified growth markets, which resulted in a decision to reduce the number of new store openings planned over the long term. The carrying value of goodwill for the Petsense reporting unit is indicative of the expected growth and development of the business. The aforementioned decision to reduce the long-term growth outlook resulted in a downward adjustment of the future financial forecasts for the Petsense business which indicated that impairment
of the goodwill asset was a more-likely-than-not outcome.
We conducted a quantitative impairment analysis of the Petsense reporting unit using the income approach. As a result of the quantitative impairment analysis of the Petsense reporting unit, it was determined that the carrying value exceeded the fair value, resulting in a pre-tax impairment loss of approximately $i60.8 million in fiscal 2020.
The Company had approximately $ii23.1/
million of intangible assets other than goodwill at December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020. The intangible asset balance represents the carrying value of the Petsense trade name, which is not subject to amortization as it has an indefinite useful life on the basis that it is expected to contribute cash flows beyond the foreseeable horizon. The trade name asset is evaluated for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. The Company's annual impairment evaluation is conducted on the first day of the fiscal fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, the
Company completed its annual impairment testing of intangible assets and ino impairment was identified. The Company determined that the fair value of the intangible asset was in excess of the carrying value.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, the aforementioned decision to reduce the long-term growth outlook for Petsense resulted
in a downward adjustment of its future financial forecasts which indicated that impairment of the trade name asset was a more-likely-than-not outcome. The Company conducted a quantitative impairment analysis in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 using the relief-from-royalty method. As a result of the quantitative impairment analysis, it was determined that the carrying value of the Petsense trade name was in excess of the fair value,resulting in a pre-tax impairment loss of approximately $i8.2 million
in fiscal 2020.
Note 4 – iDebt:
i
The
following table summarizes the Company’s outstanding debt as of the dates indicated (in millions):
Less:
unamortized debt discounts and issuance costs
(i13.6)
(i15.7)
Total
debt
i986.4
i984.3
Less:
current portion of long-term debt
i—
i—
Long-term
debt
$
i986.4
$
i984.3
Outstanding
letters of credit
$
i52.9
$
i48.7
/
1.75%
Senior Notes due 2030
On iOctober 30, 2020, the Company issued and sold, in a public offering, $i650 million
in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due iNovember 1, 2030 bearing interest at i1.75% per annum (the “1.75% Senior Notes”). The entire principal amount of the
1.75% Senior Notes is due in full on iNovember 1, 2030. Interest is payable semi-annually in arrears on each November 1 and May 1. The terms of the 1.750% Notes are governed by an indenture dated as of iOctober
30, 2020 (the “Base Indenture”) between the Company and Regions Bank, as trustee, as amended and supplemented by a first supplemental indenture dated as of iOctober 30, 2020 (the “Supplemental Indenture”)
between the Company and Regions Bank, as trustee.
The 1.75% Senior Notes are senior unsecured debt obligations of the Company and will rank equally with the Company’s other senior unsecured liabilities and senior to any future subordinated indebtedness of the Company. The 1.75% Senior Notes are subject to customary covenants restricting the Company’s ability, subject to certain exceptions, to incur debt secured by liens, to enter into sale and leaseback transactions
or to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell substantially all of its assets to another person.
At any time prior to August 1, 2030, the Company will have the right, at its option, to redeem the 1.75% Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time, by paying the greater of 100% of the principal amount of the 1.75% Senior Notes
to be redeemed, or the sum of the present values of the remaining scheduled payments of principal
and interest through the par call date, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the date of redemption. In addition, on or after August 1, 2030, the Company will have the right, at its option, to redeem the 1.75% Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 1.75% Senior Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the date of redemption.
If a Change of Control Triggering Event (as defined in the Supplemental Indenture) occurs, unless the
Company has exercised its right to redeem the 1.75% Senior Notes, holders of the 1.75% Senior Notes may require the Company to repurchase all or any part of such holder’s 1.75% Senior Notes at a purchase price of 101% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on such 1.75% Senior Notes to, but not including, the purchase date. Upon the occurrence of an event of default with respect to the 1.75% Senior Notes, which includes payment defaults, defaults in the performance of certain covenants, cross defaults, and bankruptcy and insolvency related defaults, the Company’s obligations under the 1.75% Senior Notes may be accelerated, in which case the entire principal amount of the 1.75% Senior Notes would be due and payable immediately.
Senior
Note Facility (including 3.70% Senior Notes due 2029)
On iAugust 14, 2017, the Company entered into a note purchase and private shelf agreement (the “Note Purchase Agreement”), as amended from time to time, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell, in a private placement, $i150
million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due iAugust 14, 2029 bearing interest at i3.70% per annum (the “3.70% Senior Notes”). The
entire principal amount of the 3.70% Senior Notes is due in full on iAugust 14, 2029. Interest is payable semi-annually in arrears on each annual and semi-annual anniversary of the issuance date. The obligations under the Note Purchase Agreement are unsecured.
The Company may from time to time issue and sell additional senior unsecured notes (the “Shelf Notes”) pursuant to the
Note Purchase Agreement, in an aggregate principal amount of up to $i300 million minus the aggregate principal amount of all notes outstanding and issued under the Note Purchase Agreement. The Shelf Notes will have a maturity date of no more than i12
years after the date of original issuance and may be issued through iNovember 4, 2023, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the Note Purchase Agreement.
Pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement, the 3.70% Senior Notes and any Shelf Notes (collectively, the "Senior Note Facility") are redeemable by the Company, in whole at any time or in part from time to time, at i100%
of the principal amount of the Senior Note Facility being redeemed, together with accrued and unpaid interest thereon and a make whole amount calculated by discounting all remaining scheduled payments on the Senior Note Facility by the yield on the U.S. Treasury security with a maturity equal to the remaining average life of the Senior Note Facility plus i0.50%.
Senior Credit Facility
On iFebruary
19, 2016, the Company entered into a senior credit facility, as amended from time to time, and as amended and restated on iNovember 4, 2020 (the “Senior Credit Facility”), which provides borrowing capacity under term loan facilities as well as a revolving credit facility. There are no compensating balance requirements associated with the Senior Credit Facility.
The Senior Credit Facility
contains a $i500 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolver”) with a sublimit of $i50 million for swingline
loans and a sublimit of $i150 million for letters of credit. This agreement is unsecured and matures on iNovember 4, 2023, which, subject to satisfaction
of certain terms and conditions, may be extended at the option of the Company to iNovember 4, 2024 (as may be extended, the “Senior Credit Facility Maturity Date”).
Under the Senior Credit Facility, on iNovember
4, 2020, a $i200 million term loan (the “November 2020 Term Loan”) was extended to the Company. The November 2020 Term Loan is unsecured and the entire principal amount is due in full on the Senior Credit Facility Maturity Date.
Borrowings under both the Revolver and the November 2020 Term Loan each bear interest either at the bank’s base rate (i3.250%
at December 25, 2021) plus an additional amount ranging from i0.000% to i0.375% (i0.125%
at December 25, 2021) or at the LIBOR (i0.101% at December 25, 2021) plus an additional amount ranging from i0.875%
to i1.375% per annum (i1.125% at December 25, 2021), adjusted based on
the Company's public credit ratings. The Company is also required to pay, quarterly in arrears, a commitment fee related to unused capacity on the Revolver ranging from i0.090% to i0.200%
per annum (i0.125% at December 25, 2021), adjusted based on the Company's public credit ratings.
On iFebruary
19, 2016, the Company entered into a $i200 million term loan agreement (the “February 2016 Term Loan”). This agreement was repaid in full on iNovember
4, 2020 and is no longer in effect.
On iJune 15, 2017, the Company entered into a $i100 million
incremental term loan agreement (the “June 2017 Term Loan”). This agreement was repaid in full on iNovember 4, 2020 and is no longer in effect.
On iMarch
12, 2020, the Company entered into a $i200 million incremental term loan agreement (the “March 2020 Term Loan”). This agreement was repaid in full on iNovember
4, 2020 and is no longer in effect.
On iApril 22, 2020, the Company entered into a $i350 million
incremental term loan agreement (the "April 2020 Term Loan"). This agreement was repaid in full on iOctober 30, 2020 and is no longer in effect.
Covenants and Default Provisions of the Debt Agreements
The Senior Credit Facility and the Note Purchase Agreement (collectively, the “Debt Agreements”) require quarterly compliance with respect to itwo
material covenants: a fixed charge coverage ratio and a leverage ratio. Both ratios are calculated on a trailing twelve-month basis at the end of each fiscal quarter. The fixed charge coverage ratio compares earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation and rent expense (“consolidated EBITDAR”) to the sum of interest paid and rental expense (excluding any straight-line rent adjustments). The fixed charge coverage ratio shall be greater than or equal to i2.0 to 1.0 as of the last day of each fiscal quarter. The leverage ratio compares total funded debt to consolidated EBITDAR. The leverage ratio shall be less
than or equal to i4.0 to 1.0 as of the last day of each fiscal quarter. The Debt Agreements also contain certain other restrictions regarding additional subsidiary indebtedness, business operations, subsidiary guarantees, mergers, consolidations and sales of assets, transactions with subsidiaries or affiliates, and liens. As of December 25, 2021, the Company was in compliance with iall
debt covenants.
The Debt Agreements contain customary events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, cross-defaults to other material indebtedness, certain events of bankruptcy and insolvency, material judgments, certain ERISA events and invalidity of loan documents. Upon certain changes of control, payment under the Debt Agreements could become due and payable. In addition, under the Note Purchase Agreement, upon an event of default or change of control, the make whole payment described above may become due and payable.
The Note Purchase Agreement also requires that, in the event the Company amends its Senior Credit Facility, or any subsequent credit facility of $i100
million or greater, such that it contains covenant or default provisions that are not provided in the Note Purchase Agreement or that are similar to those contained in the Note Purchase Agreement but which contain percentages, amounts, formulas or grace periods that are more restrictive than those set forth in the Note Purchase Agreement or are otherwise more beneficial to the lenders thereunder, the Note Purchase Agreement shall be automatically amended to include such additional or amended covenants and/or default provisions.
Note 5 – iLeases:
The
Company leases the majority of its retail store locations, two distribution sites, its Merchandise Innovation Center, and certain equipment under various non-cancellable operating leases. The leases have varying terms and expire at various dates through i2042. Store leases typically have initial terms of between i10 years
and i15 years, with two to four optional renewal periods of five years each. The exercise of lease renewal options is at our sole discretion. The Company has included lease renewal options in the lease term for calculations of its right-of-use assets and liabilities when it is reasonably certain that the Company plans to renew these leases. Our lease agreements do not contain any material
residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.
The Company accounts for lease components (e.g., fixed payments including rent, real estate taxes, and insurance costs) together with non-lease components (e.g., fixed payment common-area maintenance) as a single component for all classes of underlying assets. Certain lease agreements require variable payments based upon actual costs of common-area maintenance, real estate taxes, and insurance. Further, certain lease agreements require variable payments based upon store sales above agreed-upon sales levels for the year and others require payments adjusted periodically for inflation. As substantially all of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we estimate our collateralized incremental borrowing rate based upon a Company specific credit
rating and yield curve analysis at commencement or modification date in determining the present value of lease payments.
The Company has elected not to recognize leases with an original term of one year or less on the balance sheet. Short-term lease cost during the periods presented was immaterial.
In addition to the operating lease right-of-use assets presented on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, assets, net of accumulated amortization, under finance leases of
$i32.0 million and $i33.5 million are recorded within the Property and equipment, net line on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 25,
2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively.
i
The following table summarizes the Company’s classification of lease cost (in thousands):
The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of common stock and preferred stock. The Company is authorized to issue i400
million shares of common stock. The Company is also authorized to issue i40 thousand shares of preferred stock, with such designations, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s Board of Directors.
Dividends
iDuring
fiscal 2021 and 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors declared the following cash dividends:
It is the present intention of the Company’s Board of Directors to continue to pay a quarterly cash dividend; however, the declaration and payment amount of future dividends will be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend upon the earnings, financial condition, and capital needs of the Company, along with any other factors which the
Company’s Board of Directors deem relevant.
The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized common stock repurchases under a share repurchase
program which was announced in February 2007. As of December 25, 2021, the authorization amount of the program, which has been increased from time to time, was authorized for up to $i4.5 billion, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses related to such repurchases. The total authorized amount was increased by the Company's Board of Directors on January 26,
2022 by $i2.0 billion for a total authorization of $i6.5 billion. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration
date. The repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The timing and amount of any shares repurchased under the program will depend on a variety of factors, including price, corporate and regulatory requirements, capital availability and other market conditions. Repurchased shares are accounted for at cost and will be held in treasury for future issuance. The program may be limited, temporarily paused, or terminated at any time without prior notice. As of December 25, 2021, prior to the expanded $i2.0
billion repurchase authorization, the Company had remaining authorization under the share repurchase program of $i345.0 million, exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses.
The
following table provides the number of shares repurchased, average price paid per share, and total amount paid for share repurchases in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
2019
Total
number of shares repurchased
i4,364
i3,439
i5,384
Average
price paid per share
$
i183.07
$
i99.72
$
i99.05
Total
cash paid for share repurchases
$
i798,893
$
i342,957
$
i533,319
Shares
repurchased in fiscal 2020 were impacted by the temporary suspension of our share repurchase program from March 12, 2020 until November 5, 2020, in order to strengthen our liquidity and preserve cash while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note 8 – iiNet
Income Per Share:/
Net income per share is calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Fiscal Year
2021
Net
Income
Shares
Per
Share
Amount
Basic net income per share:
$
i997,114
i114,794
$
i8.69
Dilutive
effect of share-based awards
i—
i1,030
(i0.08)
Diluted
net income per share:
$
i997,114
i115,824
$
i8.61
Fiscal
Year
2020
Net
Income
Shares
Per Share
Amount
Basic net income per share:
$
i748,958
i116,370
$
i6.44
Dilutive
effect of share-based awards
i—
i1,066
(i0.06)
Diluted
net income per share:
$
i748,958
i117,436
$
i6.38
Fiscal
Year
2019
Net
Income
Shares
Per Share
Amount
Basic net income per share:
$
i562,354
i119,727
$
i4.70
Dilutive
effect of share-based awards
i—
i1,016
(i0.04)
Diluted
net income per share:
$
i562,354
i120,743
$
i4.66
Anti-dilutive
share-based awards excluded from the above calculations totaled less than ii0.1/
million in fiscal 2021 and 2020 and were approximately i0.4 million shares in fiscal 2019.
The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):
Fiscal
Year
2021
2020
2019
Current tax expense:
Federal
$
i221,152
$
i211,228
$
i128,490
State
i34,238
i38,511
i25,091
Total
current
i255,390
i249,739
i153,581
Deferred
tax expense/(benefit):
Federal
i24,303
(i21,997)
i11,770
State
i3,281
(i8,553)
(i4,328)
Total
deferred
i27,584
(i30,550)
i7,442
Total
provision
$
i282,974
$
i219,189
$
i161,023
/
Deferred
income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. iSignificant components of the deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):
The
Company has evaluated the need for a valuation allowance for all or a portion of the deferred tax assets. The Company believes that all of the deferred tax assets will more likely than not be realized through future earnings. The Company had state tax credit carryforwards of $i6.6 million and $i8.6
million as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, respectively, with varying dates of expiration through 2036. The Company provided iino/
valuation allowance as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020 for state tax credit carryforwards, as the Company believes it is more likely than not that all of these credits will be utilized before their expiration dates.
iA
reconciliation of the provision for income taxes to the amounts computed at the federal statutory rate is as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
2019
Tax
provision at statutory rate
$
i268,819
$
i203,311
$
i151,909
Tax
effect of:
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefits
i36,116
i27,642
i19,722
Tax
credits, net of federal tax benefits
(i13,157)
(i8,828)
(i7,768)
Share-based
compensation programs
(i13,368)
(i9,303)
(i4,484)
Other
i4,564
i6,367
i1,644
Total
income tax expense
$
i282,974
$
i219,189
$
i161,023
/
The
Company and its affiliates file income tax returns in the U.S. and various state and local jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to federal, state and local income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2017. Various states have completed an examination of our income tax returns for 2017 through 2019 with minimal adjustments.
The total amount of unrecognized tax positions that, if recognized, would decrease the effective tax rate, is $i3.2
million at December 25, 2021. In addition, the Company recognizes current interest and penalties accrued related to these uncertain tax positions as interest expense, and the amount is not material to the Consolidated Statements of Income. The Company has considered the reasonably possible expected net change in uncertain tax positions during the next 12 months and does not expect any material changes to our liability for uncertain tax positions through December 25, 2021.
i
A
reconciliation of the beginning and ending gross amount of unrecognized tax benefits (exclusive of interest and penalties) is as follows (in thousands):
Fiscal Year
2021
2020
2019
Balance
at beginning of year
$
i3,236
$
i2,760
$
i2,451
Additions
based on tax positions related to the current year
i927
i816
i650
Additions
for tax positions of prior years
i51
i32
i59
Reductions
for tax positions of prior years
(i465)
(i372)
(i400)
Balance
at end of year
$
i3,749
$
i3,236
$
i2,760
/
The
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was enacted in the U.S. on March 27, 2020. The enactment of this legislation did not have a material impact on income tax expense in fiscal 2020. However, the Company did elect to participate in the deferral of the employer’s share of social security tax deposits, with $i24.5 million included within other accrued expenses in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 25,
2021. This amount will become due on December 31, 2022.
Note 10 – iRetirement Benefit Plans:
The Company has a defined contribution
benefit plan, the Tractor Supply Company 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”), which provides retirement benefits for eligible employees. The Company matches (in cash) i100% of the employee’s elective contributions up to i3%
of eligible compensation plus i50% of the employee’s elective contributions from i3%
to i6% of eligible compensation. In no event shall the total Company match made on behalf of the employee exceed i4.5%
of the employee’s eligible compensation. All current contributions are immediately vested. Company contributions to the 401(k) Plan were approximately $i15.3 million, $i12.9
million, and $i9.8 million during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
The Company offers, through a deferred compensation program, the opportunity for certain qualifying employees to elect to defer a portion of their annual base salary and/or their annual incentive bonus. Under the deferred compensation program, a percentage of the participants’ salary deferral is matched by the
Company, limited to a maximum annual matching contribution of $i4,500. The Company’s contributions, including accrued interest, were $i0.3
million, $i0.6 million, and $i0.7
million during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
At December 25, 2021, the Company had contractual commitments of approximately $i107.8 million, of which $i56.9 million
is related to the construction of the new distribution center in Navarre, Ohio, and the remaining is related to purchase obligations such as inventory purchases and marketing-related contracts.The Company does inot have material contractual commitments related to construction projects extending greater than twelve months. In
addition, the Company had $i239.2 million legally binding minimum lease payments for leases signed, but not yet commenced.
Letters of Credit
At December 25, 2021, there were $i52.9
million outstanding letters of credit under the Senior Credit Facility.
Litigation
On October 9, 2020, an alleged stockholder, the City of Pontiac Police and Fire Retirement System, filed a derivative lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, purportedly on the Company's behalf, against certain current and former members of our Board of Directors, and the Company as a nominal defendant, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages payable to the Company, disgorgement, restitution,
corporate governance and hiring changes, mandated community investment, and attorneys' fees and costs. Plaintiff alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws governing proxy solicitations and breached their fiduciary duties by misrepresenting the Company’s commitment to and support for diversity and inclusion. The Company disputes the allegations of the complaint. The Company and the individual defendants moved to dismiss the complaint based on plaintiff’s failure to make a demand on the Board of Directors and to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. While the ultimate outcome of this matter is currently not determinable, we do not believe this litigation will have a material impact to the
Company's Consolidated Financial Statements.
The Company is also involved in various litigation matters arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company believes that, based upon information currently available, any estimated loss related to such matters has been adequately provided for in accrued liabilities to the extent probable and reasonably estimable. Accordingly, the Company currently expects these matters will be resolved without material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, litigation and other legal matters involve an element of uncertainty. Future
developments in such matters, including adverse decisions or settlements or resulting required changes to the Company’s business operations, could affect our consolidated operating results when resolved in future periods or could result in liability or other amounts material to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
Note 12 – iSegment
Reporting:
The Company has ione reportable segment which is the retail sale of products that support the rural lifestyle. iThe
following table indicates the percentage of net sales represented by each major product category during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019:
Percent of Net Sales
Fiscal Year
Product Category:
2021
2020
2019
Livestock
and Pet
i47
%
i47
%
i47
%
Hardware,
Tools and Truck
i21
i21
i21
Seasonal,
Gift and Toy Products
i21
i21
i20
Clothing
and Footwear
i8
i7
i8
Agriculture
i3
i4
i4
Total
i100
%
i100
%
i100
%
Note
13 – iSubsequent Events:
On January 26, 2022,the Company announced plans to build a new distribution center in Maumelle, Arkansas. This new distribution center is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet. Construction is planned to begin in the middle of 2022 and is currently anticipated to be completed in late 2023.
Item
9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We carried out an evaluation required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), under the supervision and with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls
and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the 1934 Act) as of December 25, 2021. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of December 25, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A report of the Company’s management on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the 1934 Act) and a report of Ernst &
Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting are included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our last fiscal quarter that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
PART
III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The information set forth under the caption “Information about our Executive Officers” in Part I of this Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.
The information set forth under the captions “Item 1: Election of Directors,”“Board Meetings and Committees,” and “Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports” in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11,
2022, is incorporated herein by reference.
The Company has a Code of Ethics which covers all exempt employees, officers and directors of the Company, including the principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller. The Code of Ethics is available in the “Corporate Governance” section of the Company’s website at TractorSupply.com. A copy of the Code of Ethics can
also be obtained, free of charge, upon written request to the Corporate Secretary, Tractor Supply Company, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN37027. The Company intends to post amendments to or waivers, if any, from its Code of Ethics (to the extent applicable to its principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller) on its website.
Item
11. Executive Compensation
The information set forth under the captions “Corporate Governance – Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation,”“Compensation of Directors,” and “Executive Compensation” in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The
information set forth under the caption “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference.
Following is a summary of our equity compensation plans as of December 25, 2021, under which equity securities are authorized for issuance, aggregated as follows:
Plan
Category
Number of Securities to be
Issued Upon Exercise of
Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights
Weighted Average
Exercise Price of
Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights
Number of Securities
Remaining Available
for Future Issuance
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:
Stock
Incentive Plans
$
1,878,748
(a)
$
95.85
(b)
9,851,807
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
—
—
11,759,546
Equity
compensation plans not approved by security holders
—
—
—
Total
1,878,748
$
95.85
21,611,353
(a) Includes 1,168,311 outstanding stock options,
480,717 unvested restricted stock units and 42,702 restricted stock units which have vested but the receipt of which have been deferred by the recipient, and 187,018 unvested performance-based restricted share units. The 2006 Stock Incentive Plan was superseded in May 2009 by the 2009 Stock Incentive Plan. The 2009 Stock Incentive Plan was superseded in May 2018 by the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan. Shares available under the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan are reduced by one share for each share issued pursuant to the exercise of a stock option and by two shares for each share issued pursuant to a full-value award (e.g., restricted stock unit or performance-based restricted share unit).
(b) Excludes restricted stock units and performance-based restricted share units which have a weighted average exercise price of zero.
The
information set forth in Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Form 10-K provides further information with respect to the material features of each plan.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information set forth under the captions “Corporate Governance – Director Independence and Board Operations” and “Related Party Transactions” in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference.
Item
14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information set forth under the caption “Item 2 – Ratification of Reappointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and
Financial Statement Schedules
(a) (1) Financial Statements
See Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8 on pages 44 through 74 of this Form 10-K.
(a) (2) Financial Statement Schedules
All schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the SEC are not required under the related instructions, are inapplicable or the information is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and, therefore, have been omitted.
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Form of Specimen Certificate representing the Company’s Common Stock, par value $.008 per share (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to Amendment No. 1 to Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 33-73028, filed in paper form with the Commission on January
31, 1994, and incorporated herein by reference).
Certificate of Insurance relating to the Medical
Expense Reimbursement Plan of the Company (filed as Exhibit 10.33 to Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 33-73028, filed in paper form with the Commission on December 17, 1993, and incorporated herein by reference).
10.2
Summary Plan Description of the Executive Life Insurance Plan of the Company (filed
as Exhibit 10.34 to Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 33-73028, filed in paper form with the Commission on December 17, 1993, and incorporated herein by reference).+
104 The
cover page from the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 25, 2021, formatted in Inline XBRL (included in Exhibit 101).
