Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 28, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Purchase Obligations

The Company has contractual obligations to purchase goods or services, which specify significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased and fixed minimum, or variable price provisions. The majority of the purchase commitments covered by these arrangements are for periods of less than one year and aggregate to approximately $1.3 billion as of September 28, 2024.

Lease Commitments

The Company leases certain of its facilities under operating leases expiring in various years through 2030. Refer to Note 7, Leases for a schedule of future lease payments under non-cancellable leases as of September 28, 2024.

Warranty

The Company provides a limited warranty on its System and has established a reserve for warranty obligations based on estimated warranty costs. The reserve is included as part of “accrued expenses and other current liabilities” and “other liabilities” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Activity related to the warranty accrual was as follows (in thousands):


	Year Ended
	September 28, 2024		September 30, 2023		September 24, 2022
Balance at beginning of period	$	18,948	$	9,004	$	3,735
Provision	18,773		16,833		7,329
Warranty usage	(5,786)		(6,889)		(2,060)
Balance at end of period	$	31,935	$	18,948	$	9,004

Legal Matters

The Company is subject from time to time to various claims, lawsuits and other legal and administrative proceedings. Some of these claims, lawsuits and other proceedings may involve highly complex issues that are subject to substantial uncertainties, and could result in damages, fines and penalties, non-monetary sanctions or relief.

The Company recognizes provisions for claims or pending litigation when it is determined that an unfavorable outcome is probable, and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Due to the inherent uncertain nature of litigation, the ultimate outcome or actual cost of settlement may materially vary from estimates.

SEC Request for Information

The Company has been responding to requests for information from the SEC relating to an investigation by the SEC of alleged violations by the Company of Rule 21F-17, which prohibits actions to impede an individual from communicating directly with the SEC staff about a possible securities law violation. The Company intends to continue to defend this matter vigorously and cannot predict the outcome of this investigation.

Securities Class Actions

On August 14, 2024, a putative class action captioned Fox v. Symbotic Inc. et al., Case No. 24-cv-12090 was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by an alleged holder of the Company’s common stock. The complaint asserts claims for violations of federal securities laws against the Company and two of its officers on the grounds that, among other things, the Company made false and/or misleading statements related to its expected earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024. Based on these allegations, the plaintiff brings claims seeking unspecified damages, attorneys’ fees, expert fees, and other costs and relief on behalf of herself and a putative class of persons who purchased the Company’s stock between May 6, 2024 and July 29, 2024. On September 11, 2024, the court entered a stipulation staying the Company’s deadline to respond to the complaint until after a lead plaintiff has been appointed pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. On October 15, 2024, four alleged shareholders filed motions seeking to be appointed as lead plaintiff. As of November 7, 2024, one alleged shareholder has withdrawn her motion for appointment as lead plaintiff, and two others have filed papers stating that they do not oppose the competing motion of the movant who claimed the largest losses, Dr. Seshagiri Rao Kalapala, and his selection of Levi & Korsinsky, LLP as lead counsel. As of December 3, 2024, the court has not yet ruled on the pending lead plaintiff motions.

On December 3, 2024, a putative class action captioned Decker v. Symbotic Inc. et al., Case No. 24-cv-12976 was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by an alleged purchaser of the Company’s common stock. The complaint asserts claims for violations of federal securities laws against the Company and three of its officers on the grounds that the Company made false and/or misleading statements related to its revenue recognition and the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures. Based on these allegations, the plaintiff brings claims seeking unspecified damages, attorneys’ fees, expert fees, and other costs and relief on behalf of himself and a putative class of persons who purchased the Company’s stock between February 8, 2024 and November 26, 2024.

The Company intends to vigorously defend these cases. If a court ultimately determines that the Company is liable in either or both of these cases, the Company may be subject to substantial damages. The Company cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of these matters or determine the extent of any potential liabilities. The Company also cannot

provide an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss. Any adverse outcome in these matters could expose the Company to substantial damages that may have a material adverse impact on its operations and cash flows. Despite the potential for significant damages, the Company does not believe, based on currently available information, that the outcome of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, although the outcome could be material to its operating results for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period.

Shareholder Derivative Actions

On October 2, 2024, two putative shareholder derivative actions captioned Austen v. Cohen et al., 24-cv-12522 and Kukreja v. Cohen et al., 24-cv-12523 were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by the Company’s alleged shareholders. The actions assert claims on behalf of the Company against certain senior officers and members of its board of directors for, among others, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and violations of federal securities laws based primarily on allegations that the defendants caused or allowed the Company to disseminate misleading and inaccurate information to shareholders in connection with the Company’s expected earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024. The actions also contend that the defendants wasted corporate assets by exposing the Company to the securities class action lawsuit filed on August 14, 2024. The actions seek compensatory damages, changes to corporate governance and internal procedures, restitution, costs and attorneys’ fees, and other unspecified relief. On November 19 and November 20, 2024, the parties filed motions seeking to consolidate the two actions into a single matter, appoint lead plaintiffs’ counsel, and stay any obligation of the defendants to respond to the complaint based on the pendency of the related Fox v. Symbotic securities class action lawsuit (described above).

The Company intends to vigorously defend these cases. If a court ultimately determines that the Company is liable, the Company may be subject to substantial damages. The Company cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of this matter or determine the extent of any potential liabilities. The Company also cannot provide an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss. Any adverse outcome in this matter could expose the Company to substantial damages that may have a material adverse impact on its operations and cash flows. Despite the potential for significant damages, the Company does not believe, based on currently available information, that the outcome of this proceeding will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, although the outcome could be material to its operating results for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period.

Contingencies

Liabilities for any loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines, penalties, and other matters are recorded when it is probable that the liability has been incurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Legal costs associated with loss contingencies are expensed as incurred. As of September 28, 2024, the Company had made appropriate provisions related to such matters and does not believe that such matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated operations, financial position, or liquidity.

Indemnifications

In the ordinary course of business, the Company enters into various contracts under which it may agree to indemnify other parties for losses incurred from certain events as defined in the relevant contract, such as litigation, regulatory penalties, or claims relating to past performance. Such indemnification obligations may not be subject to maximum loss clauses. The Company has never incurred costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification obligations. As a result, the Company believes the estimated fair value of these obligations is not material. Accordingly, the Company has no liabilities recorded for these obligations as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023.