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

29.890

1 Day change

6.14%

52 Week Range

32.890

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/04

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Not a good buy right now for an impatient entry: price is extended (RSI high) and sitting just below near-term resistance, making risk/reward unattractive at this moment.
Upside exists (analyst targets above spot and bullish technical structure), but without a proprietary buy signal and with earnings approaching, the setup is better suited to a pullback entry than chasing here.
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
AI Stock Picker: no signal on given stock today.
SwingMax: No signal on given stock recently.

Technical Analysis

Trend: Bullish structure with moving averages stacked positively (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), indicating an established uptrend.
Momentum: MACD histogram is positive and expanding (bullish continuation bias).
Stretch/Overbought: RSI_6 at ~73.9 suggests short-term overheating; odds of a near-term pause/pullback are elevated.
Levels: Pivot 28.43 (key line to hold for bulls). Immediate resistance at R1 29.81, then R2 30.66. Supports at S1 27.05 and S2 26.20.
Pattern-based forward odds: modest edge next day (+0.98% most likely path), but weaker 1-week expectation (-0.81%), implying momentum may cool after the recent push.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning: Very call-heavy open interest (calls 46,308 vs puts 4,862) with extremely low OI put/call (0.10) → bullish skew.
Flow today: Options volume is also call-dominant (calls 661 vs puts 7; volume put/call 0.01) → bullish near-term sentiment.
Volatility: 30D IV ~60.3 vs historical vol ~35.6 (options still pricing elevated moves), but IV percentile ~4.8 / IV rank ~10.9 suggests IV is low relative to its own recent range (less “event premium” than usual).
Takeaway: Options market is positioned bullishly, but that alone is not enough to justify chasing price into resistance with RSI stretched.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Technical uptrend remains intact (bullish MA stack + positive/expanding MACD).
- Options positioning and volume are strongly call-skewed, reflecting bullish sentiment.
- Analyst stance is constructive with recent price target increases.
- Potential event catalyst ahead: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-16 after hours (could re-rate the stock if results/guide surprise positively).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Short-term extended conditions: RSI is high and price is pressing into resistance (29.81–30.66 zone).
- Fundamentals recently deteriorated (losses widened and margins down in latest reported quarter), which can cap rallies.
- No supportive near-term news flow in the last week.
- No notable supportive positioning signals from hedge funds/insiders (both neutral) and no recent congress trading data available.

Financial Performance

Latest quarter provided: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $631.763M, down -3.69% YoY (top-line contraction).
Net income: -$16.25M, down -77.77% YoY (deeper losses).
EPS: -$0.52, down -80.15% YoY (profitability worsening).
Gross margin: 34.89%, down -6.16% YoY (margin pressure).
Overall: Growth trend is negative across revenue, profitability, EPS, and margin—fundamentals do not currently confirm the technical strength.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent analyst actions are positive:
- 2026-01-21 Stifel: Buy, PT raised to $32 from $30.
- 2026-01-05 Susquehanna: Positive, PT raised to $45 from $42.
Street pros: Targets imply meaningful upside from ~$29; expectation that cycle/tightening can support pricing/spillover demand.
Street cons: Commentary also acknowledges muted/slow volume recovery (notably LTL) and a cyclical backdrop that may take time—consistent with the company’s weak recent financial trend.

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: 28.160

Low

Averages

37.5

High

Current: 28.160

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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