Should I Buy FWRD? FWRD 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Forward Air Corp (Delaware) (FWRD) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

27.610

1 Day change

0.69%

52 Week Range

33.690

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/28

Not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor who is impatient. While Wall Street targets are being raised and options positioning is very bullish, the most recent quarter (2025/Q3) showed deteriorating fundamentals (revenue down YoY, losses widening, margin down). With earnings coming on 2026-02-16 (after hours) and no proprietary buy signals today, the risk of near-term downside/repricing outweighs the upside case for entering immediately. I would wait for a cleaner post-earnings confirmation of stabilization before buying for long-term.

Technical Analysis

Price 27.52 (-1.69% vs prior close 27.89). Trend is mixed: the moving averages are bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), suggesting the broader trend has improved, but momentum is weakening—MACD histogram is negative (-0.133) and expanding lower, implying downside momentum is building. RSI(6)=47.3 is neutral (no oversold support signal). Key levels: pivot 28.03 is immediate overhead; resistance at 29.26 then 30.02. Support at 26.80 then 26.04—if 26.80 breaks, downside risk increases quickly. **Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals** - [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today. - [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock today.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Options sentiment is strongly bullish/one-sided toward calls: open interest put-call ratio 0.12 and volume put-call ratio 0.01 (calls dominating). Call OI (75,678) far exceeds put OI (8,903). However, volatility is elevated (30D IV ~91% vs historical vol ~73%) with IV percentile ~64.8, meaning the market is pricing large moves; that can support sharp rallies, but also raises the chance of a volatile drawdown if earnings/disclosure disappoints. Net: sentiment is bullish, but it’s also “high-expectation” positioning.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Analyst targets were raised recently (supports a recovery/turnaround narrative).
- Industry commentary in analyst notes suggests tightening truckload conditions could create spillover demand/pricing support.
- Options market positioning is very call-heavy (can amplify upside if news/earnings beats expectations).
- Broader moving-average structure is bullish (trend framework not broken yet).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Earnings on 2026-02-16 (after hours) is a major event risk; estimates still imply a loss (Est. EPS -0.26).

Financial Performance

Latest reported quarter: 2025/Q3. Revenue was 631.763M (-3.69% YoY). Net income fell to -16.25M (down -77.77% YoY, i.e., worse losses). EPS was -0.52 (-80.15% YoY). Gross margin was 34.89% (-6.16% YoY). Overall: growth and profitability trends weakened in the latest quarter, which is not the profile of a clean long-term “buy now” setup for a beginner unless there is clear evidence of an inflection (not present in the provided data).

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: analysts are incrementally more constructive. (1) 2026-01-21 Stifel raised PT to $32 from $30 and kept Buy. (2) 2026-01-05 Susquehanna raised PT to $45 from $42 and kept Positive, while noting LTL volume recovery may not materialize until late 2026. Wall Street pros: improving sentiment via raised price targets; expectation of industry dynamics that may support pricing/demand. Wall Street cons: recovery timeline may be long (late 2026 for volume recovery per Susquehanna), which conflicts with an impatient investor; current financial trend is negative. Influential trading check: Hedge funds neutral (no significant trends last quarter). Insiders neutral (no significant trends last month). Politician/congress trading: no recent congress trading data available (so no signal from that channel).

4 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast FWRD stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for FWRD is 37.5 USD with a low forecast of 30 USD and a high forecast of 45 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

2 Buy

2 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 27.420

Low

Averages

37.5

High

Current: 27.420

Low

Averages

37.5

High

Stifel

J. Bruce Chan

maintain

$30 -> $32

AI Analysis

2026-01-21

Reason

Stifel

J. Bruce Chan

Price Target

$30 -> $32

AI Analysis

2026-01-21

maintain

Reason

Stifel analyst J. Bruce Chan raised the firm's price target on Forward Air to $32 from $30 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm's base case expectation is for mid-to-high single digit percentage organic and regulatory-driven attrition in long-haul over-the-road supply this year and while it expects significantly less supply impact for Less-than-Truckload than it does in its Truckload group coverage, the firm believes tightening in truckload creates marginal demand spillover, as well as pricing support, the analyst tells investors in a Q4 earnings preview for the group.

Susquehanna

Positive

maintain

$42 -> $45

2026-01-05

Reason

Susquehanna

Price Target

$42 -> $45

2026-01-05

maintain

Positive

Reason

Susquehanna raised the firm's price target on Forward Air to $45 from $42 and keeps a Positive rating on the shares. The firm said they have low expectations on LTL volume recovery materializing before late 2026, but they believe investors are better aligned with cyclical reality than they were entering 2025.

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FWRD Should I Buy

FWRD Should I Buy

Should You Buy Forward Air Corp (Delaware) (FWRD) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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