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Side-by-side financial comparison of ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC (ECPG) and FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD). Click either name above to swap in a different company.
FORWARD AIR CORP is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($631.2M vs $473.6M, roughly 1.3× ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC). ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC runs the higher net margin — 16.2% vs -4.5%, a 20.7% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (78.3% vs -0.3%). Over the past eight quarters, ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC's revenue compounded faster (20.1% CAGR vs 7.9%).
Encore Capital Group, Inc. is a publicly traded debt buyer based in the United States. The company is headquartered in San Diego, and operates throughout the United States. The firm is a publicly traded NASDAQ Global Select company (ECPG), a component stock of the Russell 2000, the S&P SmallCap 600, and the Wilshire 4500.
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.
ECPG vs FWRD — Head-to-Head
Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q4 FY2025
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $473.6M | $631.2M |
| Net Profit | $76.7M | $-28.3M |
| Gross Margin | — | — |
| Operating Margin | 36.6% | -0.5% |
| Net Margin | 16.2% | -4.5% |
| Revenue YoY | 78.3% | -0.3% |
| Net Profit YoY | — | 22.2% |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.32 | $-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.
| Q4 25 | $473.6M | $631.2M | ||
| Q3 25 | $460.4M | $631.8M | ||
| Q2 25 | $442.1M | $618.8M | ||
| Q1 25 | $392.8M | $613.3M | ||
| Q4 24 | $265.6M | $632.8M | ||
| Q3 24 | $367.1M | $655.9M | ||
| Q2 24 | $355.3M | $643.7M | ||
| Q1 24 | $328.4M | $541.8M |
| Q4 25 | $76.7M | $-28.3M | ||
| Q3 25 | $74.7M | $-16.3M | ||
| Q2 25 | $58.7M | $-12.6M | ||
| Q1 25 | $46.8M | $-50.6M | ||
| Q4 24 | — | $-36.4M | ||
| Q3 24 | $30.6M | $-73.4M | ||
| Q2 24 | $32.2M | $-645.4M | ||
| Q1 24 | $23.2M | $-61.7M |
| Q4 25 | 36.6% | -0.5% | ||
| Q3 25 | 37.6% | 2.4% | ||
| Q2 25 | 34.1% | 3.2% | ||
| Q1 25 | 32.9% | 0.8% | ||
| Q4 24 | — | 12.0% | ||
| Q3 24 | 28.9% | 3.5% | ||
| Q2 24 | 28.7% | -170.2% | ||
| Q1 24 | 25.5% | -12.1% |
| Q4 25 | 16.2% | -4.5% | ||
| Q3 25 | 16.2% | -2.6% | ||
| Q2 25 | 13.3% | -2.0% | ||
| Q1 25 | 11.9% | -8.3% | ||
| Q4 24 | — | -5.8% | ||
| Q3 24 | 8.3% | -11.2% | ||
| Q2 24 | 9.1% | -100.3% | ||
| Q1 24 | 7.1% | -11.4% |
| Q4 25 | $3.32 | $-0.90 | ||
| Q3 25 | $3.17 | $-0.52 | ||
| Q2 25 | $2.49 | $-0.41 | ||
| Q1 25 | $1.93 | $-1.68 | ||
| Q4 24 | — | $-1.69 | ||
| Q3 24 | $1.26 | $-2.66 | ||
| Q2 24 | $1.34 | $-23.47 | ||
| Q1 24 | $0.95 | $-2.81 |
Balance Sheet & Financial Strength
Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand | $156.8M | $106.0M |
| Total DebtLower is stronger | $4.0B | $1.7B |
| Stockholders' EquityBook value | $976.8M | $113.3M |
| Total Assets | $5.3B | $2.7B |
| Debt / EquityLower = less leverage | 4.13× | 14.89× |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $156.8M | $106.0M | ||
| Q3 25 | $172.5M | $140.4M | ||
| Q2 25 | $172.9M | $95.1M | ||
| Q1 25 | $187.1M | $116.3M | ||
| Q4 24 | $199.9M | $104.9M | ||
| Q3 24 | $247.4M | $136.6M | ||
| Q2 24 | $250.6M | $84.9M | ||
| Q1 24 | $173.0M | $152.0M |
| Q4 25 | $4.0B | $1.7B | ||
| Q3 25 | — | $1.7B | ||
| Q2 25 | — | — | ||
| Q1 25 | — | — | ||
| Q4 24 | $3.7B | — | ||
| Q3 24 | — | — | ||
| Q2 24 | — | — | ||
| Q1 24 | — | $1.7B |
| Q4 25 | $976.8M | $113.3M | ||
| Q3 25 | $952.9M | $139.8M | ||
| Q2 25 | $896.0M | $151.8M | ||
| Q1 25 | $819.1M | $154.6M | ||
| Q4 24 | $767.3M | $201.7M | ||
| Q3 24 | $1.0B | $226.1M | ||
| Q2 24 | $988.1M | $283.8M | ||
| Q1 24 | $953.9M | $926.1M |
| Q4 25 | $5.3B | $2.7B | ||
| Q3 25 | $5.3B | $2.8B | ||
| Q2 25 | $5.2B | $2.8B | ||
| Q1 25 | $5.0B | $2.8B | ||
| Q4 24 | $4.8B | $2.8B | ||
| Q3 24 | $5.0B | $3.1B | ||
| Q2 24 | $4.8B | $3.1B | ||
| Q1 24 | $4.7B | $4.0B |
| Q4 25 | 4.13× | 14.89× | ||
| Q3 25 | — | 12.05× | ||
| Q2 25 | — | — | ||
| Q1 25 | — | — | ||
| Q4 24 | 4.83× | — | ||
| 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 | | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash FlowLast quarter | $153.2M | — |
| Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex | $126.9M | — |
| FCF MarginFCF / Revenue | 26.8% | — |
| Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue | 5.5% | 1.3% |
| Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit | 2.00× | — |
| TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters | $244.0M | — |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $153.2M | — | ||
| Q3 25 | $81.6M | $52.7M | ||
| Q2 25 | $9.5M | — | ||
| Q1 25 | $45.3M | $27.6M | ||
| Q4 24 | $156.2M | $-23.2M | ||
| Q3 24 | $45.9M | $51.2M | ||
| Q2 24 | $35.7M | $-45.2M | ||
| Q1 24 | $51.0M | $-51.7M |
| Q4 25 | $126.9M | — | ||
| Q3 25 | $75.6M | $48.6M | ||
| Q2 25 | $3.2M | — | ||
| Q1 25 | $38.3M | $15.7M | ||
| Q4 24 | $127.2M | $-30.5M | ||
| Q3 24 | $39.7M | $40.7M | ||
| Q2 24 | $28.3M | $-59.6M | ||
| Q1 24 | $44.1M | $-56.7M |
| Q4 25 | 26.8% | — | ||
| Q3 25 | 16.4% | 7.7% | ||
| Q2 25 | 0.7% | — | ||
| Q1 25 | 9.7% | 2.6% | ||
| Q4 24 | 47.9% | -4.8% | ||
| Q3 24 | 10.8% | 6.2% | ||
| Q2 24 | 8.0% | -9.3% | ||
| Q1 24 | 13.4% | -10.5% |
| Q4 25 | 5.5% | 1.3% | ||
| Q3 25 | 1.3% | 0.7% | ||
| Q2 25 | 1.4% | 0.8% | ||
| Q1 25 | 1.8% | 1.9% | ||
| Q4 24 | 10.9% | 1.1% | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.7% | 1.6% | ||
| Q2 24 | 2.1% | 2.2% | ||
| Q1 24 | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| Q4 25 | 2.00× | — | ||
| Q3 25 | 1.09× | — | ||
| Q2 25 | 0.16× | — | ||
| Q1 25 | 0.97× | — | ||
| Q4 24 | — | — | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.50× | — | ||
| Q2 24 | 1.11× | — | ||
| Q1 24 | 2.19× | — |
Financial Flow Comparison
Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.
Revenue Breakdown by Segment
ECPG
Segment breakdown not available.
FWRD
| Omni Logistics Segment | $359.8M | 57% |
| Network | $183.9M | 29% |
| Intermodal Segment | $50.2M | 8% |
| Truckload | $41.6M | 7% |
