Forward Air Corp
FWRD Nasdaq Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo Financials FY2016βFY2025
What Forward Air Corp does
No business description yet.
- Legal name
- FORWARD AIR CORP
- Fiscal year ends
- December 31, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K Β· Mar 11, 2026
- Accession Β· CIK
- 0001628280-26-016793
0000912728
Revenue and margins
Forward Air Corp had $2.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 0.8% on the year before.
Net income and earnings per share
Loss periods are shown in red.
Returns on capital
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Cash flow
Free cash flow was $15.3M in fiscal 2025, 0.6% of revenue. Cash from operations minus capital spending.
Dividends, buybacks and share count
Forward Air Corp returned $0.0M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 0% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 11.5%.
Balance sheet
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Forward Air Corp can carry it.
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $37.3M | $45.8M | $122M | $105M | $106M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $171M | $132M | $39.4M | $1.7B | $1.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.7x | 0.3x | β0.6x | β | 8.6x |
| Debt / equity | 0.3x | 0.2x | 0.0x | 8.4x | 14.9x |
| Interest coverage | 33.9x | 48.2x | 2.8x | β5.6x | 0.2x |
| Current ratio | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.5x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Quick ratio | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.5x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Total assets | $1.1B | $1.2B | $3.0B | $2.8B | $2.7B |
| Total liabilities | $524M | $501M | $2.2B | $2.6B | $2.6B |
| Shareholders' equity | $594M | $707M | $764M | $202M | $113M |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | $134M | $86.1M | β$82.6M | $1.6B | $1.6B |
Insider trades
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. 'Plan' marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Of sales under plans
β
$0.0M
No open-market insider trades in the last 12 months.
Piotroski F-score
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
| Test | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| F-score | β / 3 | 7 / 9 | 5 / 9 | 5 / 9 | 4 / 9 | 7 / 8 | 8 / 8 | 5 / 8 | 2 / 8 | 4 / 8 |
| Accruals ratio | β16.0% | β2.4% | β8.3% | β8.2% | β7.1% | β1.4% | β4.9% | β1.5% | β25.9% | β5.5% |
| Altman Z'' | 6.49 | 7.10 | 6.40 | 4.04 | 3.04 | 3.74 | 4.77 | 1.33 | β2.65 | β0.18 |
10 years of figures
US$ millions unless stated. Hover a ratio's name for its definition.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.7B | $1.4B | $2.5B | $2.5B |
| Net interest income | β | β | β | β$2.7M | β$4.6M | β$4.3M | β$5.1M | β | β | β |
| Gross profit | $569M | $624M | $573M | $629M | $619M | β | β | β | β | β |
| Operating income | $59.7M | $109M | $117M | $112M | $73.9M | $147M | $248M | $88.2M | β$1.1B | $36.4M |
| Interest expense | $1.6M | $1.2M | $1.8M | $2.7M | $4.6M | $4.3M | $5.1M | $31.6M | $189M | $181M |
| Pretax income | $58.1M | $108M | $115M | $110M | $69.4M | $143M | $242M | $56.6M | β$1.2B | β$147M |
| Income tax | $30.6M | $20.3M | $26.9M | $27.4M | $16.6M | $35.8M | $63.0M | $13.8M | β$125M | β$5.5M |
| Net income | $27.5M | $87.3M | $92.1M | $87.1M | $23.7M | $106M | $193M | $167M | β$817M | β$108M |
| Net income to common | β | β | β | β | β | β | $179M | $42.8M | β$837M | β |
| Diluted EPS | $0.90 | $2.89 | $3.12 | $3.04 | $0.84 | $3.85 | $7.14 | $6.40 | β$30.63 | β$3.51 |
| Diluted shares | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B | 0.03B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $130M | $103M | $153M | $159M | $96.1M | $121M | $250M | $199M | β$69.0M | $44.4M |
| Capital expenditure | $42.2M | $38.3M | $39.6M | $22.0M | $20.3M | $38.4M | $39.3M | $30.7M | $37.1M | $29.1M |
| Free cash flow | $88.2M | $65.1M | $113M | $137M | $75.8M | $82.2M | $211M | $168M | β$106M | $15.3M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $38.2M | $41.1M | $35.8M | $36.4M | $37.1M | $35.0M | $42.6M | $57.4M | $144M | $153M |
| Stock-based compensation | $8.3M | $8.1M | $10.2M | $11.7M | $11.0M | $10.5M | $10.7M | $11.5M | $10.2M | $13.4M |
| Acquisitions | $11.8M | $23.1M | $20.0M | $39.0M | $63.7M | $59.9M | $66.1M | $56.7M | $1.6B | $0.0M |
| Share buybacks | $40.0M | $49.0M | $66.1M | $56.2M | $45.2M | $49.0M | $62.8M | $93.8M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Dividends paid | $15.5M | $18.1M | $18.4M | $20.5M | $20.9M | $23.0M | $25.9M | $25.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $55.5M | $67.0M | $84.6M | $76.7M | $66.1M | $72.0M | $88.6M | $119M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $8.5M | $3.9M | $25.7M | $64.7M | $40.3M | $37.3M | $45.8M | $122M | $105M | $106M |
| Total debt | $27.7M | $40.2M | $47.3M | $72.7M | $112M | $157M | $108M | $0.0M | $1.7B | $1.7B |
| Finance lease liabilities | β | β | β | $6.8M | $7.2M | $14.2M | $23.8M | $39.4M | $47.8M | $38.4M |
| Current assets | $136M | $168M | $201M | $236M | $246M | $283M | $304M | $347M | $473M | $521M |
| Current liabilities | $77.9M | $66.2M | $74.7M | $137M | $172M | $165M | $169M | $237M | $384M | $428M |
| Inventory | $1.3M | $1.4M | $2.2M | $2.1M | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Property and equipment, net | $200M | $206M | $210M | $193M | $190M | $219M | $249M | β | β | β |
| Goodwill | $185M | $192M | $194M | $216M | $245M | $219M | $258M | $279M | $523M | $523M |
| Intangible assets | $107M | $111M | $114M | $125M | $145M | $155M | $116M | $135M | $999M | $907M |
| Total assets | $644M | $693M | $760M | $991M | $1.0B | $1.1B | $1.2B | $3.0B | $2.8B | $2.7B |
| Total liabilities | $143M | $160M | $207M | $414M | $500M | $524M | $501M | $2.2B | $2.6B | $2.6B |
| Preferred stock | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Shareholders' equity | $498M | $533M | $553M | $577M | $547M | $594M | $707M | $764M | $202M | $113M |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 55.3% | 53.4% | 50.4% | 51.8% | 48.7% | β | β | β | β | β |
| Operating margin | 5.8% | 9.3% | 10.3% | 9.3% | 5.8% | 10.6% | 14.7% | 6.4% | β43.0% | 1.5% |
| EBITDA margin | 9.5% | 12.8% | 13.5% | 12.2% | 8.7% | 13.1% | 17.3% | 10.6% | β37.1% | 7.6% |
| Net margin | 2.7% | 7.5% | 8.1% | 7.2% | 1.9% | 7.6% | 11.5% | 12.2% | β33.0% | β4.3% |
| FCF margin | 8.6% | 5.6% | 9.9% | 11.3% | 6.0% | 5.9% | 12.6% | 12.3% | β4.3% | 0.6% |
| Net interest share of revenue | β | β | β | β0.2% | β0.4% | β0.3% | β0.3% | β | β | β |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 7.5% | 15.5% | 15.6% | 14.4% | 9.1% | 15.4% | 23.8% | 10.4% | β46.9% | 1.7% |
| Return on capital employed | 10.5% | 17.4% | 17.1% | 13.2% | 8.4% | 15.4% | 23.8% | 3.2% | β43.9% | 1.6% |
| Return on equity | 5.5% | 16.9% | 17.0% | 15.4% | 4.2% | 18.6% | 29.7% | 22.7% | β169.1% | β68.4% |
| Return on assets | 4.3% | 13.1% | 12.7% | 9.9% | 2.3% | 9.8% | 16.6% | 8.0% | β28.3% | β3.9% |
| Return on tangible equity | 13.3% | 38.0% | 37.4% | 36.8% | 15.1% | 48.0% | 53.8% | 12.2% | β | β |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | β | 13.5% | β2.7% | 6.8% | 4.5% | 9.3% | 21.1% | β18.4% | 80.5% | 0.8% |
| Net income growth | β | 217.2% | 5.5% | β5.4% | β72.8% | 346.0% | 82.5% | β13.4% | β588.2% | β |
| EPS growth | β | 221.1% | 8.0% | β2.6% | β72.4% | 358.3% | 85.5% | β10.4% | β578.6% | β |
| FCF growth | β | β26.2% | 73.6% | 21.3% | β44.6% | 8.4% | 156.5% | β20.1% | β163.0% | β |
| Share count change | β | β1.6% | β2.6% | β3.0% | β2.2% | β1.5% | β1.3% | β3.4% | 5.9% | 11.5% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.7x | 0.7x | 0.3x | β0.6x | β | 8.6x |
| Debt / equity | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.2x | 0.3x | 0.2x | 0.0x | 8.4x | 14.9x |
| Interest coverage | 37.4x | 90.0x | 65.7x | 41.5x | 16.2x | 33.9x | 48.2x | 2.8x | β5.6x | 0.2x |
| Current ratio | 1.7x | 2.5x | 2.7x | 1.7x | 1.4x | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.5x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Quick ratio | 1.7x | 2.5x | 2.7x | 1.7x | 1.4x | 1.7x | 1.8x | 1.5x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 4.1% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2.3% | 2.2% | 1.5% | 1.2% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Payouts / FCF | 63.0% | 103.0% | 74.8% | 56.0% | 87.2% | 87.5% | 42.0% | 70.5% | β | 0.0% |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | β | 7.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 6.5 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 1.3 | β2.7 | β0.2 |
| Accruals ratio | β16.0% | β2.4% | β8.3% | β8.2% | β7.1% | β1.4% | β4.9% | β1.5% | β25.9% | β5.5% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000912728). Data updated October 24, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.