FWRD (Forward Air) Altman Z2-Score: -0.22 (As of Aug. 04, 2026)

Forward Air  (NAS:FWRD) Altman Z2-Score Explanation

The original Z-Score model was based on publicly traded manufacturing companies while the Z2-Score, also known as Z"-score can be used for any type of company excluding property/financial companies. Both Z-Score and Z2-Score describes the financial health of a company, and its likelihood of financial distress.

X1: The Working Capital/Total Assets (WC/TA) ratio is a measure of the net liquid assets of the firm relative to the total capitalization. Working capital is defined as the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Ordinarily, a firm experiencing consistent operating losses will have shrinking current assets in relation to total assets. Altman found this one proved to be the most valuable liquidity ratio comparing with the current ratio and the quick ratio. This is however the least significant of the five factors.

X2: Retained Earnings/Total Assets: the RE/TA ratio measures the leverage of a firm. Retained earnings is the account which reports the total amount of reinvested earnings and/or losses of a firm over its entire life. Those firms with high RE, relative to TA, have financed their assets through retention of profits and have not utilized as much debt.

X3, Earnings Before Interest and Taxes/Total Assets (EBIT/TA): This ratio is a measure of the true productivity of the firm's assets, independent of any tax or leverage factors. Since a firm's ultimate existence is based on the earning power of its assets, this ratio appears to be particularly appropriate for studies dealing with corporate failure. This ratio continually outperforms other profitability measures, including cash flow.

X4_2, Net Worth (Total Stockholders Equity - Preferred Stock)/Total Liabilities (NW/TL): it compares a company’s stock net worth with its total liabilities and can be used to assess the extent of its reliance on debt.

Read more about Altman Z2-Score, the original research on Z-Score and the additional research on Z2-Score.

Be Aware

Altman Z2-Score does not apply to financial companies.

Forward Air Altman Z2-Score Related Terms

The historical data trend for Forward Air's Altman Z2-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Forward Air Altman Z2-Score Chart

Forward Air Annual Data
	Trend	Dec16	Dec17	Dec18	Dec19	Dec20	Dec21	Dec22	Dec23	Dec24	Dec25
Altman Z2-Score		Get a 7-Day Free Trial					3.74	4.77	1.33	-2.65	-0.18

Forward Air Quarterly Data
	Jun21	Sep21	Dec21	Mar22	Jun22	Sep22	Dec22	Mar23	Jun23	Sep23	Dec23	Mar24	Jun24	Sep24	Dec24	Mar25	Jun25	Sep25	Dec25	Mar26
Altman Z2-Score	Get a 7-Day Free Trial															-2.63	0.05	0.06	-0.18	-0.22

FWRD vs RLGT, CYRX, PAL: Altman Z2-Score Comparison

For the Integrated Freight & Logistics subindustry, Forward Air's Altman Z2-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Altman Z2-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

Forward Air Altman Z2-Score vs Transportation Industry

For the Transportation industry and Industrials sector, Forward Air's Altman Z2-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Forward Air's Altman Z2-Score falls into.

Forward Air Altman Z2-Score Calculation

Altman Z-Score model is an accurate forecaster of failure up to two years prior to distress. It can be considered the assessment of the distress of industrial corporations.

Z2-Score, also known as Z"-Score is the Z-Score for non-manufacturing companies excluding property/financial companies.

Forward Air's Altman Z2-Score for today is calculated with this formula:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency. GuruFocus does not calculate Altman Z2-Score when X4_2 value is 0.

Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2026:
Total Assets was $2,696 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $542 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $442 Mil.
Retained Earnings was $-483 Mil.
Pre-Tax Income was -38.405 + -45.11 + -23.372 + -37.113 = $-144 Mil.
Interest Expense was -43.587 + -45.099 + -44.775 + -45.326 = $-179 Mil.
Total Liabilities was $2,574 Mil.

* Note that for stock reported semi-annually or annually, GuruFocus uses latest annual data as the TTM data.

The zones of discrimination were as such:

Distress Zones - 1.1 < Grey Zones < 2.6 - Safe Zones

Forward Air has a Altman Z2-Score of -0.22 indicating it is in Distress Zones.

Forward Air Business Description