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Side-by-side financial comparison of APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES INC (AIT) and FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES INC is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($1.2B vs $631.2M, roughly 1.8× FORWARD AIR CORP). APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES INC runs the higher net margin — 8.2% vs -4.5%, a 12.7% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES INC posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (8.4% vs -0.3%). Over the past eight quarters, FORWARD AIR CORP's revenue compounded faster (7.9% CAGR vs 0.7%).

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (AIT) is a public, global company based in the U.S. and focused on the distribution of bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control products, and other industrial supplies. AIT provides engineering, design and system integration for industrial and fluid power applications, as well as customized mechanical, fabricated rubber, fluid power, and flow control shop services.

Forward Air Corp is a leading North American asset-light logistics and transportation provider. It offers core services including expedited less-than-truckload freight delivery, final-mile logistics, intermodal transport, warehousing, and supply chain solutions, serving key sectors such as e-commerce, retail, manufacturing, and automotive across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

AIT vs FWRD — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
AIT
AIT
1.8× larger
AIT
$1.2B
$631.2M
FWRD
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
AIT
AIT
+8.6% gap
AIT
8.4%
-0.3%
FWRD
Higher net margin
AIT
AIT
12.7% more per $
AIT
8.2%
-4.5%
FWRD
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
FWRD
FWRD
Annualised
FWRD
7.9%
0.7%
AIT

Income Statement — Q2 FY2026 vs Q4 FY2025

Metric
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Revenue
$1.2B
$631.2M
Net Profit
$95.3M
$-28.3M
Gross Margin
30.4%
Operating Margin
10.6%
-0.5%
Net Margin
8.2%
-4.5%
Revenue YoY
8.4%
-0.3%
Net Profit YoY
2.2%
22.2%
EPS (diluted)
$2.51
$-0.90

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$1.2B
$631.2M
Q3 25
$1.2B
$631.8M
Q2 25
$1.2B
$618.8M
Q1 25
$1.2B
$613.3M
Q4 24
$1.1B
$632.8M
Q3 24
$1.1B
$655.9M
Q2 24
$1.2B
$643.7M
Q1 24
$1.1B
$541.8M
Net Profit
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$95.3M
$-28.3M
Q3 25
$100.8M
$-16.3M
Q2 25
$107.8M
$-12.6M
Q1 25
$99.8M
$-50.6M
Q4 24
$93.3M
$-36.4M
Q3 24
$92.1M
$-73.4M
Q2 24
$103.5M
$-645.4M
Q1 24
$97.2M
$-61.7M
Gross Margin
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
30.4%
Q3 25
30.1%
Q2 25
30.6%
Q1 25
30.5%
Q4 24
30.6%
Q3 24
29.6%
Q2 24
30.7%
Q1 24
29.5%
Operating Margin
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
10.6%
-0.5%
Q3 25
10.8%
2.4%
Q2 25
11.0%
3.2%
Q1 25
11.1%
0.8%
Q4 24
11.3%
12.0%
Q3 24
10.3%
3.5%
Q2 24
12.0%
-170.2%
Q1 24
10.6%
-12.1%
Net Margin
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
8.2%
-4.5%
Q3 25
8.4%
-2.6%
Q2 25
8.8%
-2.0%
Q1 25
8.6%
-8.3%
Q4 24
8.7%
-5.8%
Q3 24
8.4%
-11.2%
Q2 24
8.9%
-100.3%
Q1 24
8.5%
-11.4%
EPS (diluted)
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$2.51
$-0.90
Q3 25
$2.63
$-0.52
Q2 25
$2.80
$-0.41
Q1 25
$2.57
$-1.68
Q4 24
$2.39
$-1.69
Q3 24
$2.36
$-2.66
Q2 24
$2.64
$-23.47
Q1 24
$2.48
$-2.81

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$406.0M
$106.0M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$1.7B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$1.9B
$113.3M
Total Assets
$3.2B
$2.7B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
14.89×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$406.0M
$106.0M
Q3 25
$418.7M
$140.4M
Q2 25
$388.4M
$95.1M
Q1 25
$352.8M
$116.3M
Q4 24
$303.4M
$104.9M
Q3 24
$538.5M
$136.6M
Q2 24
$460.6M
$84.9M
Q1 24
$456.5M
$152.0M
Total Debt
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$1.7B
Q3 25
$1.7B
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24
Q1 24
$1.7B
Stockholders' Equity
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$1.9B
$113.3M
Q3 25
$1.9B
$139.8M
Q2 25
$1.8B
$151.8M
Q1 25
$1.8B
$154.6M
Q4 24
$1.8B
$201.7M
Q3 24
$1.8B
$226.1M
Q2 24
$1.7B
$283.8M
Q1 24
$1.7B
$926.1M
Total Assets
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$3.2B
$2.7B
Q3 25
$3.2B
$2.8B
Q2 25
$3.2B
$2.8B
Q1 25
$3.1B
$2.8B
Q4 24
$3.0B
$2.8B
Q3 24
$3.0B
$3.1B
Q2 24
$3.0B
$3.1B
Q1 24
$2.9B
$4.0B
Debt / Equity
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
14.89×
Q3 25
12.05×
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24
Q1 24
1.81×

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$99.7M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$93.4M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
8.0%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
0.5%
1.3%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.05×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$458.5M

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$99.7M
Q3 25
$119.3M
$52.7M
Q2 25
$147.0M
Q1 25
$122.5M
$27.6M
Q4 24
$95.1M
$-23.2M
Q3 24
$127.7M
$51.2M
Q2 24
$119.2M
$-45.2M
Q1 24
$84.2M
$-51.7M
Free Cash Flow
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
$93.4M
Q3 25
$112.0M
$48.6M
Q2 25
$138.2M
Q1 25
$114.9M
$15.7M
Q4 24
$89.9M
$-30.5M
Q3 24
$122.2M
$40.7M
Q2 24
$111.7M
$-59.6M
Q1 24
$76.7M
$-56.7M
FCF Margin
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
8.0%
Q3 25
9.3%
7.7%
Q2 25
11.3%
Q1 25
9.8%
2.6%
Q4 24
8.4%
-4.8%
Q3 24
11.1%
6.2%
Q2 24
9.6%
-9.3%
Q1 24
6.7%
-10.5%
Capex Intensity
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
0.5%
1.3%
Q3 25
0.6%
0.7%
Q2 25
0.7%
0.8%
Q1 25
0.6%
1.9%
Q4 24
0.5%
1.1%
Q3 24
0.5%
1.6%
Q2 24
0.6%
2.2%
Q1 24
0.7%
0.9%
Cash Conversion
AIT
AIT
FWRD
FWRD
Q4 25
1.05×
Q3 25
1.18×
Q2 25
1.36×
Q1 25
1.23×
Q4 24
1.02×
Q3 24
1.39×
Q2 24
1.15×
Q1 24
0.87×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

AIT
AIT

Service Center Based Distribution Segment$625.2M54%
Engineered Solutions Segment$398.9M34%
Other$75.8M7%
Hydradyne LLC$63.1M5%

FWRD
FWRD

Omni Logistics Segment$359.8M57%
Network$183.9M29%
Intermodal Segment$50.2M8%
Truckload$41.6M7%

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