CDW

None of the warning signs we check for were found.

We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.

We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 20 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 5 Aug 2026 and 9 later 8-Ks.

• It carries a lot of debt: 2.2× its equity.

Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.

• Substantial competition could reduce our market share and significantly harm our financial performance.

  Could happen

  While innovation can help our business as it creates new offerings for us to sell, it can also disrupt our business model and create new and stronger competitors. For instance, while cloud-based solutions present an opportunity for us, cloud-based solutions and technology solutions as a service could increase the amount of sales directly to customers rather than through solutions providers like us, or could reduce the amount of hardware we sell. For example, growing hyperscaler marketplaces such as AWS Marketplace, Google Cloud Marketplace, and Microsoft Marketplace and evolving partner authorization and incentive models could change the role of traditional resellers, which may limit access to offerings, pressure margins, and restrict participation in certain channels. In addition, some of our hardware and software vendor partners sell, and could intensify their efforts to sell their products directly to our customers. Moreover, traditional OEMs have increased their services capabilities through mergers and acquisitions, which could potentially increase competition in the market to provide comprehensive technology solutions to customers. If we are unable to effectively respond to the evolving competitive landscape, or respond in a manner that is less effective than that of our competitors, our business, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely impacted.

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• Substantial competition could reduce our market share and significantly harm our financial performance.

  Could happen

  We operate in a highly competitive industry and compete with resellers, manufacturers who sell directly to customers, large service providers and system integrators, communications service providers, cloud providers, e-commerce companies, and office supply retailers, among others. There may be new market entrants with non-traditional business, service, and delivery models, resulting in increased competition and changing industry dynamics. Existing or future competitors also may seek to compete with us for acquisitions, which could have the effect of increasing the price of potential targets and reducing the number of suitable acquisitions. These factors, in addition to competitive pressures resulting from the fragmented nature of our industry, could affect our sales, profit margins, and earnings.

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• Issues relating to the use or capabilities of AI, including social, ethical, and safety issues, in hardware, software, and services offerings may result in reputational harm, liability, or increased costs.

  Could happen

  Social, ethical, and safety issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies such as AI-based technologies, including generative AI in our hardware, software, and service offerings, as well as in our internal platforms, may result in reputational harm and liability. We are increasingly utilizing AI in our business, including interactions with our coworkers, customers, and vendor partners and in the hardware, software, and services we offer, and we also plan to further invest resources to embed AI capabilities throughout our operations and enterprise to drive scale and efficiency. As with many innovations, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its adoption and usage, and therefore our business. If we are unable to effectively and timely capitalize on the growth opportunities made available by the adoption of AI to drive our scale and efficiency, our business, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely impacted. Further, the responsible development and deployment of AI requires ongoing investment in research, development and governance, which could adversely affect our results of operation or cash flows. AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, and we face significant competition in the market and from other companies regarding such technologies.

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