Forward Air ups Q1 EBITDA forecast

Greeneville, Tennessee-based transportation company lifts guidance range by 20%

Forward Air reports first-quarter results after the market closes on May 7. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Forward Air has issued another update to first-quarter guidance, upping expectations from an April 9 notification filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Greeneville, Tennessee-based expedited trucking and freight forwarding company said consolidated revenue for the period should be in a range of $611 million to $615 million with operating income of $2 million to $6 million. The company generated revenue of $542 million in the 2024 first quarter ($624 million including the full three-month contribution from the Omni Logistics acquisition, which closed in late January 2024).

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was raised on Monday to a range of $66 million to $70 million versus the prior guidance of $54 million to $59 million.

Shares of Forward (NASDAQ: FWRD) were up 0.9% in early trading on Monday compared to the S&P 500, which was off 2.1%. The stock is down 51% on the year and 86% since the controversial merger was announced in August 2023.

The Monday update didn’t reference liquidity, which was forecast on April 9 to increase $10 million sequentially from the fourth quarter to $392 million at the close of the first quarter. That update also flagged 10% to 15% of last year’s revenue as being impacted by recent tariff announcements.

Forward’s board initiated a strategic review in January. It is exploring options including a potential sale of the company.

Forward Air reports first-quarter results after the market closes on May 7.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.