Forward Air Corporation (FWRD) AI Stock Analysis

Forward Air Corporation operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company across the United States and Canada through two segments: Expedited Freight and Intermodal. Expedited Freight provides regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, final mile delivery, truckload brokerage, dedicated fleet operations, and specialized warehousing. The Intermodal segment manages container drayage between ports, rail yards, and customer facilities, alongside contract logistics and container freight stations. Founded in 1981, Forward Air serves freight forwarders, third-party logistics firms, passenger airlines, air cargo carriers, steamship lines, and retail clients.

Revenue grew from $1.39B in FY2021 to $1.68B in FY2022, before falling 18.4% to $1.37B in FY2023. Revenue expanded 80.5% to $2.47B in FY2024, but operating margin dropped to -43.0% with net income of -$817.0M. In FY2025, revenue reached $2.50B with an operating margin of 1.5% and net income of -$107.8M. Over the five years from FY2020 to FY2025, revenue grew at a CAGR of 14.5%. For the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue growth was 8.8% year-over-year, and quarterly earnings grew 145.0% year-over-year, bringing trailing twelve months revenue to $2.52B.

As of June 30, 2026, Forward Air held $139.4M in cash and short-term investments compared to $2.11B in total debt, resulting in net debt of $1.97B. Shareholders' equity stood at -$115.4M, reflecting negative equity, while total assets were $2.41B and the current ratio was 1.32. In FY2025, operating cash flow recovered to $44.4M and free cash flow reached $15.3M. Capital expenditures used $29.1M, and share issuance totaled $846,000.

At a closing price of $15.04 on October 16, 2026, Forward Air trades at a forward P/E of 19.9x, compared to the median of 17.2x for its US-listed Industrials peers. Its price-to-sales multiple is 0.2x against the peer median of 1.5x, and its EV-to-EBITDA stands at 13.2x versus the peer median of 13.9x. The stock has dropped 27.8% over the past year and 82.1% over five years, underperforming the S&P 500 benchmark returns of 16.8% and 83.0% over the same periods.

Wall Street coverage consists of 2 Strong Buy ratings, 0 Buy ratings, and 3 Hold ratings. The mean price target is $24.50, representing an upside of 62.9% from the last close of $15.04. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, analysts estimate an EPS of -$1.01 and revenue of $2.58B. Forward Air beat EPS estimates in 2 of the last 4 quarters, with the next earnings announcement scheduled for November 4, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Forward Air Corporation (FWRD). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

Related: FWRD income statement, FWRD balance sheet, FWRD key metrics, FWRD analyst forecast, FWRD chart. See the FWRD stock overview for the latest quote and news.