Forward Air Corporation (FWRD) Key Metrics
FWRD valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $508.1M
- Enterprise value
- $2.48B
- P/E (TTM)
- — 10-yr median 21.3
- Forward P/E
- 19.9
- PEG ratio
- 0.65
- Price / sales
- 0.2 10-yr median 1.5
- Price / book
- 6.0 10-yr median 3.7
- EV / EBITDA
- 13.2 10-yr median 15.0
- Dividend yield
- —
- Beta
- 1.41
FWRD key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsFWRD valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
Price / sales−13.5%
0.3
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Price / book+55.2%
6.8
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
EV / EBITDA
15.2
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Price / free cash flow
50.7
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow yield+14.6 pts
2.0%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
FWRD returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
Return on equity+100.7 pts
−68.4%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Return on invested capital+36.1 pts
1.3%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Return on assets+24.4 pts
−3.9%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow margin+5.2 pts
0.6%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Asset turnover+5.1%
0.90
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
FWRD per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
Revenue per share−10.3%
$80.56
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Earnings per share
−$3.48
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow per share
$0.49
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Book value per share−50.0%
$3.66
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Dividends per share
$0.00
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Shares outstanding+12.5%
31.0M
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
FWRD financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
Debt / equity+79.1%
19.05
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Net debt+$12.8M
$2.05B
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Net debt / EBITDA
11.03
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Current ratio−1.1%
1.22
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Interest coverage
0.2
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Debt / assets+2.8%
0.79
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
FWRD efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
Days sales outstanding+14 days
49 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Days payables outstanding+8 days
21 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Cash conversion cycle+6 days
28 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Capex / revenue−0.3 pts
1.2%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Dividends + buybacks / FCF
0.0%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
FWRD valuation history
Fiscal year-endToday10-year median
FWRD returns on capital
ROEROICROA
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
FWRD debt vs cash
Total debtCash & short-term investments
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
FWRD cash returned to shareholders
DividendsBuybacksFree cash flow
FWRD price vs earnings per share
Share price at year-endEPS (right axis)
FWRD key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $774.3M | $888.2M | $1.63B | $2.82B | $3.30B | $2.13B | $1.98B | $1.60B | $1.74B | $1.46B |
| Enterprise value | $2.83B | $2.93B | $3.46B | $3.05B | $3.59B | $2.33B | $2.09B | $1.62B | $1.77B | $1.48B |
| P/E ratio | — | — | 9.8 | 14.6 | 31.2 | 89.7 | 22.7 | 17.4 | 19.9 | 52.6 |
| Price / sales | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Price / book | 6.8 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Price / free cash flow | 50.7 | — | 10.9 | 12.9 | 40.7 | 33.3 | 15.1 | 14.5 | 26.7 | 16.5 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 17.4 | — | 9.0 | 10.9 | 27.5 | 25.3 | 12.3 | 10.5 | 16.8 | 11.2 |
| EV / sales | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.2 | — | 23.8 | 10.5 | 19.7 | 21.0 | 14.1 | 9.9 | 11.8 | 15.0 |
| EV / free cash flow | 185.2 | — | 23.0 | 13.9 | 44.2 | 36.5 | 16.0 | 14.7 | 27.2 | 16.8 |
| Earnings yield | −13.9% | −92.0% | 10.2% | 6.8% | 3.2% | 1.1% | 4.4% | 5.7% | 5.0% | 1.9% |
| Free cash flow yield | 2.0% | −12.7% | 9.2% | 7.7% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 6.6% | 6.9% | 3.8% | 6.1% |
| Dividend yield | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.1% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.3% | 3.1% | 2.2% | 3.1% | 3.9% | 5.3% | 3.9% | 3.8% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $25.00 | $32.25 | $62.87 | $104.89 | $121.09 | $76.84 | $69.95 | $54.85 | $57.44 | $47.38 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $80.56 | $89.84 | $52.71 | $62.38 | $50.83 | $45.84 | $42.93 | $45.25 | $36.43 | $31.96 |
| Earnings per share | −$3.48 | −$29.66 | $6.44 | $7.17 | $3.88 | $0.86 | $3.08 | $3.15 | $2.89 | $0.90 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $1.43 | −$2.74 | $6.98 | $9.62 | $4.41 | $3.04 | $5.70 | $5.23 | $3.42 | $4.24 |
| Free cash flow per share | $0.49 | −$4.08 | $5.79 | $8.11 | $2.97 | $2.31 | $4.62 | $3.78 | $2.15 | $2.87 |
| Cash per share | $3.42 | $3.81 | $4.69 | $1.70 | $1.37 | $1.45 | $2.29 | $0.88 | $0.13 | $0.28 |
| Book value per share | $3.66 | $7.32 | $29.39 | $26.27 | $21.75 | $19.76 | $20.39 | $18.95 | $17.66 | $16.23 |
| Tangible book value per share | −$42.50 | −$47.94 | $13.49 | $12.39 | $6.31 | $5.68 | $8.36 | $8.24 | $7.63 | $6.76 |
| Dividends per share | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.96 | $0.96 | $0.84 | $0.75 | $0.72 | $0.63 | $0.60 | $0.51 |
| Capex per share | $0.94 | $1.35 | $1.18 | $1.51 | $1.43 | $0.73 | $1.08 | $1.45 | $1.27 | $1.37 |
| Debt per share | $69.73 | $77.92 | $74.83 | $9.91 | $11.73 | $8.78 | $6.33 | $1.63 | $1.37 | $0.93 |
| Shares outstanding | 31.0M | 27.5M | 26.0M | 26.9M | 27.3M | 27.7M | 28.3M | 29.2M | 30.2M | 30.7M |
| Change in shares outstanding | +12.5% | +5.9% | −3.4% | −1.3% | −1.5% | −2.2% | −3.0% | −3.4% | −1.7% | −1.5% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | −68.4% | −169.1% | 22.7% | 29.7% | 18.6% | 4.2% | 15.4% | 16.9% | 16.9% | 5.5% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 1.3% | −34.8% | 3.8% | 20.3% | 13.5% | 7.8% | 13.3% | 16.3% | 16.2% | 5.5% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | −3.9% | −28.3% | 8.0% | 16.6% | 9.8% | 2.3% | 9.9% | 12.7% | 13.1% | 4.1% |
| Return on tangible assets | −8.2% | −63.8% | 6.5% | 23.2% | 15.2% | 3.6% | 13.4% | 20.6% | 22.7% | 7.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 0.6% | −4.5% | 11.0% | 13.0% | 5.8% | 5.0% | 10.8% | 8.3% | 5.9% | 9.0% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | — | — | 1.08 | 1.34 | 1.14 | 3.54 | 1.85 | 1.66 | 1.18 | 4.71 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $2.16B | $2.15B | $1.95B | $266.8M | $320.1M | $243.2M | $179.2M | $47.7M | $41.3M | $28.7M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $106.0M | $104.9M | $122.0M | $45.8M | $37.3M | $40.3M | $64.7M | $25.7M | $3.9M | $8.5M |
| Net debt | $2.05B | $2.04B | $1.82B | $221.0M | $282.8M | $203.0M | $114.5M | $22.0M | $37.4M | $20.2M |
| Debt / equity | 19.05 | 10.64 | 2.55 | 0.38 | 0.54 | 0.44 | 0.31 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.06 |
| Debt / assets | 0.79 | 0.77 | 0.65 | 0.22 | 0.29 | 0.23 | 0.18 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 11.03 | — | 12.53 | 0.76 | 1.55 | 1.83 | 0.77 | 0.13 | 0.25 | 0.21 |
| Current ratio | 1.22 | 1.23 | 1.46 | 1.80 | 1.72 | 1.43 | 1.72 | 2.69 | 2.71 | 1.75 |
| Quick ratio | 1.22 | 1.23 | 1.46 | 1.80 | 1.72 | 1.31 | 1.71 | 2.66 | 2.68 | 1.73 |
| Interest coverage | 0.2 | -5.6 | 2.8 | 48.2 | 33.9 | 16.2 | 41.5 | 68.4 | 89.9 | 37.6 |
| Working capital | $92.7M | $88.5M | $109.9M | $134.9M | $118.1M | $74.3M | $99.2M | $126.4M | $102.6M | $58.3M |
| Invested capital | $2.17B | $2.24B | $2.59B | $928.2M | $876.4M | $750.3M | $691.7M | $575.3M | $570.9M | $519.3M |
| Tangible asset value | −$1.27B | −$1.24B | $350.8M | $333.7M | $172.2M | $157.3M | $236.6M | $240.5M | $230.6M | $207.7M |
| Net current asset value | −$2.06B | −$2.04B | −$1.87B | −$196.5M | −$241.4M | −$254.2M | −$177.4M | −$5.9M | $8.5M | −$6.0M |
| Graham number | — | — | $65.24 | $65.12 | $43.57 | $19.52 | $37.57 | $36.67 | $33.88 | $18.13 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$71.51 | −$78.79 | −$75.93 | −$11.66 | −$11.90 | −$11.98 | −$8.68 | −$2.03 | −$1.17 | −$1.48 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $25.0M | $25.9M | $23.0M | $20.9M | $20.5M | $18.4M | $18.1M | $15.5M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $0 | $0 | $93.8M | $62.8M | $49.0M | $45.2M | $56.2M | $66.1M | $49.0M | $40.0M |
| Dividend payout ratio | — | — | 14.9% | 13.4% | 21.7% | 87.9% | 23.5% | 20.0% | 20.7% | 56.1% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 0.0% | — | 78.9% | 40.6% | 88.7% | 103.6% | 58.6% | 76.7% | 103.0% | 63.0% |
| Capex / revenue | 1.2% | 1.5% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 4.3% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 65.6% | — | 16.9% | 15.7% | 32.5% | 24.1% | 19.0% | 27.7% | 37.0% | 32.4% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.19 | 0.26 | 0.54 | 0.86 | 0.99 | 0.55 | 0.73 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 1.10 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| R&D / revenue | — | — | — | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| SG&A / revenue | 2.4% | 2.6% | 6.9% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.6% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 49.2 | 35.5 | 46.2 | 43.9 | 49.0 | 42.1 | 44.7 | 43.4 | 44.6 | 45.4 |
| Days of inventory on hand | — | — | — | 0.0 | — | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Days payables outstanding | 20.9 | 12.9 | 16.8 | 14.6 | 14.1 | 11.2 | 11.4 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 28.2 | 22.6 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 34.9 | 34.9 | 34.1 | 32.7 | 34.9 | 36.2 |
| Receivables turnover | 7.42 | 10.28 | 7.90 | 8.31 | 7.44 | 8.67 | 8.17 | 8.42 | 8.19 | 8.03 |
| Payables turnover | 17.45 | 28.25 | 21.79 | 25.03 | 25.80 | 32.63 | 32.02 | 32.28 | 35.47 | 37.12 |
| Inventory turnover | — | — | — | 1,187,969,000.00 | — | 89.95 | 439.79 | 575.63 | 632.96 | 586.61 |
| Asset turnover | 0.90 | 0.86 | 0.65 | 1.44 | 1.28 | 1.25 | 1.39 | 1.82 | 1.66 | 1.46 |
| Average receivables | $336.1M | $240.6M | $173.5M | $202.2M | $186.3M | $146.4M | $148.8M | $156.9M | $134.5M | $122.3M |
| Average payables | $113.7M | $75.6M | $47.8M | $47.5M | $41.6M | $31.9M | $30.0M | $32.7M | $24.4M | $20.7M |
| Average inventory | — | — | — | $1 | — | $11.6M | $2.2M | $1.8M | $1.4M | $1.3M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 52.1% | 54.3% | 13.9% | 30.9% | 37.7% | 37.2% | 34.4% | 41.1% | 44.0% | 45.4% |
Computed from FWRD's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed March 11, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
FWRD valuation and financial ratios
Forward Air earned a return on equity of −68.4% and a return on invested capital of 1.3% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $2.2 billion of debt and $106.0 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $2.1 billion.
See the FWRD income statement, the FWRD chart for price history, or the FWRD stock overview for the latest quote and news.
FWRD key metrics FAQ
What is Forward Air's EV/EBITDA?
Forward Air's enterprise value was 15.2 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $2.8 billion, EBITDA $186.2 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 13.2.
What is Forward Air's return on equity?
Forward Air's return on equity (ROE) was −68.4% in fiscal 2025: net income of -$107.8 million on average shareholders' equity of $157.5 million.
What is Forward Air's ROIC?
Forward Air's return on invested capital was 1.3% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Forward Air have?
Forward Air had total debt of $2.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.05 and $2.1 billion of net debt (11.03 times EBITDA).
Does Forward Air pay a dividend?
Forward Air did not pay a dividend in fiscal 2025.
What is Forward Air's free cash flow yield?
Forward Air generated $15.3 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 2.0% on its market value at year-end ($774.3 million).
What is Forward Air's current ratio?
Forward Air's current ratio was 1.22 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 1.22 times current liabilities.