FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD)
Industrials · Asset-light transportation and logistics services · NASDAQ
An asset-light transportation and logistics provider combining regional expedited freight, international freight forwarding, and intermodal drayage services, currently navigating significant profitability challenges and a strategic review of alternatives.
What FORWARD AIR CORP does
Forward Air Corporation is an asset-light provider of transportation and logistics services operating three main segments: Expedited Freight (regional and national LTL services), Omni Logistics (domestic and international freight forwarding, fulfillment, customs brokerage across high-growth sectors), and Intermodal (first and last-mile container drayage services). The company serves customers across North and South America, Europe, and Asia with premium logistics and supply chain management solutions requiring precision execution.
Themes: expedited freight / LTL, freight forwarding, intermodal / drayage, contract logistics, supply chain management, asset-light logistics
Fundamentals
- Price$18.11 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$612M as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return-35.1% 2025-08-21 close $27.90 → 2026-08-21 close $18.11
- P/En/a negative earnings
- Net margin-3.7% as of 2026-08-24
- Gross margin+41.2% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE-75.3% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity21.29 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)-3.2% as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+14.1% SEC XBRL
- Beta1.40 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-08-05 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
Dividend: yield +1.5%; pays a dividend.
How FWRD compares in its sector
- net profit marginbottom 25% 457 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating marginbottom 25% 457 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- gross marginmiddle range 455 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitybottom 10% 460 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- 3-year revenue CAGRtop 25% 426 covered Industrials peers
- indicated dividend yieldmiddle range 267 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 414 covered Industrials peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Industrials companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Dividend coverage
Not assessed — last reported dividend predates the accounts. The most recent fiscal year in which FWRD reported a dividend payment is FY2023, while its reported financial statements run through FY2025. Coverage is therefore not assessed for the latest year — an FY2023 ratio would not describe FWRD today.
Coverage is derived from reported SEC EDGAR XBRL figures, comparing dividends paid against net income and free cash flow for the SAME fiscal year. It is not shown here because the latest fiscal year with a reported dividend payment (FY2023) is older than the latest year of reported financial statements (FY2025), so any ratio would describe an out-of-date year. Informational only — not financial advice.
How FORWARD AIR CORP looks technically
FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) is trading 8.0% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend. Its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 103 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal. A strong uptrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with buyers in control. Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 57, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 2 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative). It made a new 20-day high about 7 trading days ago. It is 43.4% below its highest point of the past year.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 8.0% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend | -8.0% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $15.06 | $15.06 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $19.69 | $19.69 |
| Swing structure | each recent peak has been higher than the one before it and each dip has been shallower — the pattern chart-watchers call an uptrend, which describes where price has already been and not where it goes next | higher highs and higher lows |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 8 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 8 sessions |
| Wave structure | its recent swings can be read as a five-part upward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in the fourth leg, a pullback against that upward direction; the labelling fails if price closes below 16.77. It is one of several labellings that fit, and it describes the swings already printed, not what comes next. The same swings also read as a completed three-part correction. | possible upward five-wave sequence, in wave 4 (one of several readings) |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 103 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal | 103 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a strong uptrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with buyers in control | 28.9 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 57, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 57.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the upper half of its 14-day range ($14.64 to $20.57) — its "stochastic" reading is 59 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been slipping within that range over the last few sessions. | 58.5 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 2 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative) | 2 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $32.00 | $32.00 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 43.4% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -43.4% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 130.6% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +130.6% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 43.4% below its highest point of the past year | 43.4% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day high about 7 trading days ago | 7 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day high about 7 trading days ago | 7 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $125.71 (set on 2022-01-04) | $125.71 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($8.31 to $31.76), and it has recovered roughly a third of its fall from last year’s high — 42% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $22.80 to $23.55. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 41.8% |
| From the all-time high | it is 85.6% below its all-time high | -85.6% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 6.6% above a support level at $16.91 — a price it turned at three times since 2025-03-12, most recently on 2026-07-22. Since 2024-08-21 it has 4 such levels below the current price and 11 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | -6.6% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $7.86 (set on 2026-05-19) | $7.86 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 130.6% above its all-time low | +130.6% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are about average versus its own recent 6-month history | 56th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $1.07 between its high and its low — about 5.9% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $1.07 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $12.97 and $21.41 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $12.97 – $17.19 – $21.41 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 5.9% in a typical session — more volatile than most companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 5.9% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 1.5 daily ranges below its 200-day average price (8.0% below it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 1.5 daily ranges below its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.58× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts have raised their average price target by 24.4% since the prior reading | +24.4% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a bearish engulfing | 3 sessions ago it opened above the previous session's close and finished below that session's open — a "bearish engulfing" pair, where one down day more than undid the up day before it | 3 sessions ago |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 1.1% above the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and had not traded back through that level by the close | +1.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 15.3% above the previous close 11 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 15.41 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | +15.3% |
| Gap filled | a 2.1% gap up opened on 2026-08-13 has been "filled" 5 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it took 1 session to close | 5 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock beat the market by 9.4 percentage points (the stock gained 11.7% while the market gained 2.3%) | +9.4% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock beat the market by 113.8 percentage points (the stock gained 116.9% while the market gained 3.1%) | +113.8% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 46.0 percentage points (the stock lost 34.9% while the market gained 11.1%) | -46.0% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock lagged the market by 55.6 percentage points (the stock lost 35.1% while the market gained 20.5%) | -55.6% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a strong uptrend, with buyers in control, trading above the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 4 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: a "death cross" — its 50-day average is below its 200-day, trading below its 200-day average, MACD momentum is negative, lagging the market over 6 months — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 4 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 18% above the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established uptrend, with the band below acting as the level that would have to give way. The band itself is thick, spanning 15.4% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that has held for a while and takes effort to cross. | +17.5% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 10% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $16.46 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 157 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +10.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 2% below the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-05 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $18.48 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 13 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -2.0% |
Price levels it has turned at before
FWRD last closed at $18.11 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 4 prices below its last close and 11 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $16.91 | Support | 6.6% below the last close | turned there three times · 2025-03-12 to 2026-07-22 |
| $16.18 | Support | 10.7% below the last close | turned there three times · 2025-05-09 to 2025-06-02 |
| $14.91 | Support | 17.7% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-03-19 to 2026-06-26 |
| $23.80 | Resistance | 31.4% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-06-16 to 2026-04-27 |
| $24.69 | Resistance | 36.3% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-12-15 to 2026-01-02 |
| $26.53 | Resistance | 46.5% above the last close | turned there four times · 2025-07-21 to 2026-01-20 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
Its recent swings can be read as a five-part upward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in leg 4 of five, a pullback against that direction.
This labelling fails — stops being a possible reading at all — if it closes below $16.77.
This is one of several labellings that fit the same swings, so treat it as a reading rather than the reading. It was chosen from 2 labellings that survived the rules, counting shorter readings of the same bars.
On past moves of this shape the leg has usually ended somewhere between $17.14 and $18.95 — that is where it has tended to end if the count holds, not a forecast of where the price goes.
Alternate reading: The same swings also read as a completed three-part correction, which fails on a close above $20.57.
This reading has stood for 2 trading days, since 2026-08-20.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading below the 200-day moving average · Pulled back from the 12-month high · MACD just crossed bearish (12/26/9) · in a strong, established uptrend (ADX) · Analyst price target recently RAISED · lagging the market | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingBuy (2.20 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 2 analysts
- Mean price target$28.00 range $27.00 – $29.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-21. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for FWRD
- Consensus EPS estimate$0.1 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-21
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["The company is currently unprofitable with negative 3.71% net margin and reported net losses of $34.3M in Q1 2026; cash burn and liquidity pressure amid weak market conditions represent a significant existential risk","Debt burden of $1.69B significantly exceeds equity of $122M, creating high financial leverage and refinancing risk in a challenging freight environment","Revenue declining 3.22% YoY and stock down 53% over the past year indicate severe operational and market headwinds in the transportation and logistics sector"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of FWRD's 10-Q filed 2026-05-11 against the prior one filed 2025-11-05.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Newer filing (2026-05-11) adds geographic scope: 'ground transportation, air and ocean forwarding, intermodal drayage services and contract logistics across North and South America, Europe and Asia' in Overview section
- Newer filing (2026-05-11) adds to Omni Logistics description: 'contract logistics, which includes warehousing and value-added services' (previously stated as 'warehousing and distribution')
- Newer filing (2026-05-11) changes language regarding segment management: now states 'we measure and manage the performance of the Omni Logistics segment based on its revenue and income' (previously 'we manage the business by our disclosed segments' with product revenue breakdown example)
- Removed:
- Older filing (2025-11-05) contained paragraph beginning 'As we continue to integrate the Omni and Forward businesses' with estimated revenue breakdown for 2024 (ground transportation 70%, air & ocean forwarding 12%, intermodal drayage 9%, warehousing/value-added services 9%); this entire paragraph is removed in newer filing (2026-05-11)
- Older filing (2025-11-05) stated company provides services 'including LTL, truckload and intermodal drayage services across the United States and in Canada and Mexico' with global scope mentioned separately; newer filing (2026-05-11) consolidates to broader geographic description without specific country limitations in initial reference
- Reworded:
- Older filing (2025-11-05): 'asset-light freight provider' changed to 'asset-light provider' in newer filing (2026-05-11)
- Older filing (2025-11-05): 'we manage these businesses and evaluate the operating performance of these reportable segments' changed to 'we manage these segments and evaluate their operating performance' in newer filing (2026-05-11)
- Older filing (2025-11-05): 'commonly-used indicator' changed to 'commonly used indicator' in newer filing (2026-05-11) (hyphen removed)
- Older filing (2025-11-05): 'and can be influenced' changed to ', and can be influenced' in newer filing (2026-05-11) (comma added before 'and')
- Older filing (2025-11-05): 'Container Freight Station' abbreviated as 'CFS' in newer filing (2026-05-11): 'Container Freight Station warehouse' changed to match 'CFS' reference
- Notes:
- The newer filing text appears truncated at 'Within our Intermodal reportable seg' while older filing text is similarly truncated at 'Average Length of Haul - Total mi'; comparison is limited to available text
- Product revenue breakdown from 2024 was removed in newer filing but no explicit replacement data provided for 2025 period; this represents content removal rather than revision
Risk Factors
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
No open-market insider purchases or sales are on record for FWRD — recent Form 4 activity was compensation-related (awards, option exercises, or tax withholding), not open-market buying or selling.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsOnly open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
5 institutional 13F filers reported holding FWRD as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 5
- Reported shares held 6,735,576
- Reported value $112,551,482
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 1 new, 4 increased, 0 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
FWRD had 2,304,283 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
FWRD had 6.82% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 2.8 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 2,304,283
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 6.82%
- Prior settlement (shares) 2,329,137
- Reported change -1.07%
- Days to cover (reported) 2.8
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- XPO Logistics (XPO)
- J.B. Hunt Transport Services
- Werner Enterprises (WERN)
- Knight Transportation
- Saia Inc (SAIA)
- Universal Truckload Services
- ArcBest Corporation (ARCB)
- Estes Express Lines
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) do?
Forward Air Corporation is an asset-light provider of transportation and logistics services operating three main segments: Expedited Freight (regional and national LTL services), Omni Logistics (domestic and international freight forwarding, fulfillment, customs brokerage across high-growth sectors), and Intermodal (first and last-mile container drayage services).
What sector is FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) in?
FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) is classified in the Industrials sector. Its industry is Asset-light transportation and logistics services. It trades on NASDAQ.
Does FWRD pay a dividend?
Yes — FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) pays a dividend, with an indicated yield of about 1.48% (market data, as of 2026-08-24). Informational only — not financial advice.
Who are FORWARD AIR CORP's (FWRD) competitors?
Notable peers of FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) include XPO Logistics, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Werner Enterprises, Knight Transportation and Saia Inc. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) overbought or oversold right now?
FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 57, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on FWRD come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.