Sysco’s International Foodservice Operations reported a 12.3% increase in local-market volumes in Q3, marking its fifth consecutive quarter above 10% volume growth. The Asia-Pacific region led expansion, with volumes up 18.5%, while Europe grew 10.2%. Management attributed the gains to new distribution centers in Singapore and Madrid, which collectively added 17,000 new customer locations year-to-date.

During the same period, international segment gross margins expanded by 145 basis points to 18.7%, driven by enhanced route-density optimization and targeted price adjustments on specialty imported foods. Operating margins rose to 6.8%, up from 5.1% a year ago, reflecting improved supply-chain efficiencies and favorable currency hedging gains of $22 million.

Sysco’s international unit has delivered eight straight quarters of double-digit year-over-year profit growth, with net income for the segment rising 16.4% in Q3 to $125 million. Cumulative segment profits have grown at a 14.8% compound annual growth rate since Q2 2023, outperforming the company’s domestic business, which posted a 4.2% profit increase in the same quarter.

Analysts have revised full-year international revenue forecasts up by $350 million, projecting segment revenues to reach $18.5 billion in fiscal 2025. With Sysco’s low beta of 0.61 and an established record of returning capital—57 consecutive years of dividend increases—investors view the accelerating international growth as a key catalyst for the stock’s 14% total return over the past 12 months.