vs

Side-by-side financial comparison of FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD) and MSCI Inc. (MSCI). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

MSCI Inc. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($822.5M vs $631.2M, roughly 1.3× FORWARD AIR CORP). MSCI Inc. runs the higher net margin — 34.6% vs -4.5%, a 39.1% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, MSCI Inc. posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (10.6% vs -0.3%). Over the past eight quarters, MSCI Inc.'s revenue compounded faster (10.0% CAGR vs 7.9%).

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.

MSCI Inc. is an American finance company headquartered in New York City. MSCI is a global provider of equity, fixed income, real estate indices, multi-asset portfolio analysis tools, ESG and climate finance products. It operates the MSCI World, MSCI Emerging Markets, and MSCI All Country World (ACWI) indices, among others.

FWRD vs MSCI — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
MSCI
MSCI
1.3× larger
MSCI
$822.5M
$631.2M
FWRD
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
MSCI
MSCI
+10.9% gap
MSCI
10.6%
-0.3%
FWRD
Higher net margin
MSCI
MSCI
39.1% more per $
MSCI
34.6%
-4.5%
FWRD
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
MSCI
MSCI
Annualised
MSCI
10.0%
7.9%
FWRD

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q4 FY2025

Metric
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Revenue
$631.2M
$822.5M
Net Profit
$-28.3M
$284.7M
Gross Margin
Operating Margin
-0.5%
56.4%
Net Margin
-4.5%
34.6%
Revenue YoY
-0.3%
10.6%
Net Profit YoY
22.2%
-6.8%
EPS (diluted)
$-0.90
$3.81

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
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$631.2M
$822.5M
Q3 25
$631.8M
$793.4M
Q2 25
$618.8M
$772.7M
Q1 25
$613.3M
$745.8M
Q4 24
$632.8M
$743.5M
Q3 24
$655.9M
$724.7M
Q2 24
$643.7M
$707.9M
Q1 24
$541.8M
$680.0M
Net Profit
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$-28.3M
$284.7M
Q3 25
$-16.3M
$325.4M
Q2 25
$-12.6M
$303.6M
Q1 25
$-50.6M
$288.6M
Q4 24
$-36.4M
$305.5M
Q3 24
$-73.4M
$280.9M
Q2 24
$-645.4M
$266.8M
Q1 24
$-61.7M
$256.0M
Operating Margin
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
-0.5%
56.4%
Q3 25
2.4%
56.4%
Q2 25
3.2%
55.0%
Q1 25
0.8%
50.6%
Q4 24
12.0%
54.5%
Q3 24
3.5%
55.4%
Q2 24
-170.2%
54.0%
Q1 24
-12.1%
49.9%
Net Margin
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
-4.5%
34.6%
Q3 25
-2.6%
41.0%
Q2 25
-2.0%
39.3%
Q1 25
-8.3%
38.7%
Q4 24
-5.8%
41.1%
Q3 24
-11.2%
38.8%
Q2 24
-100.3%
37.7%
Q1 24
-11.4%
37.6%
EPS (diluted)
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$-0.90
$3.81
Q3 25
$-0.52
$4.25
Q2 25
$-0.41
$3.92
Q1 25
$-1.68
$3.71
Q4 24
$-1.69
$3.89
Q3 24
$-2.66
$3.57
Q2 24
$-23.47
$3.37
Q1 24
$-2.81
$3.22

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

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

Metric
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$106.0M
$515.3M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$1.7B
$6.2B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$113.3M
$-2.7B
Total Assets
$2.7B
$5.7B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
14.89×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$106.0M
$515.3M
Q3 25
$140.4M
$400.1M
Q2 25
$95.1M
$347.3M
Q1 25
$116.3M
$360.7M
Q4 24
$104.9M
$409.4M
Q3 24
$136.6M
$501.0M
Q2 24
$84.9M
$451.4M
Q1 24
$152.0M
$519.3M
Total Debt
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$1.7B
$6.2B
Q3 25
$1.7B
$5.5B
Q2 25
$4.5B
Q1 25
$4.5B
Q4 24
$4.5B
Q3 24
$4.5B
Q2 24
$4.5B
Q1 24
$1.7B
$4.5B
Stockholders' Equity
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$113.3M
$-2.7B
Q3 25
$139.8M
$-1.9B
Q2 25
$151.8M
$-886.2M
Q1 25
$154.6M
$-958.6M
Q4 24
$201.7M
$-940.0M
Q3 24
$226.1M
$-751.0M
Q2 24
$283.8M
$-734.5M
Q1 24
$926.1M
$-650.5M
Total Assets
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$2.7B
$5.7B
Q3 25
$2.8B
$5.4B
Q2 25
$2.8B
$5.4B
Q1 25
$2.8B
$5.3B
Q4 24
$2.8B
$5.4B
Q3 24
$3.1B
$5.4B
Q2 24
$3.1B
$5.5B
Q1 24
$4.0B
$5.5B
Debt / Equity
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
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
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$501.1M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$488.7M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
59.4%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
1.3%
1.5%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.76×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$1.5B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$501.1M
Q3 25
$52.7M
$449.4M
Q2 25
$336.1M
Q1 25
$27.6M
$301.7M
Q4 24
$-23.2M
$430.6M
Q3 24
$51.2M
$421.6M
Q2 24
$-45.2M
$349.2M
Q1 24
$-51.7M
$300.1M
Free Cash Flow
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$488.7M
Q3 25
$48.6M
$445.5M
Q2 25
$324.7M
Q1 25
$15.7M
$290.2M
Q4 24
$-30.5M
$416.4M
Q3 24
$40.7M
$415.0M
Q2 24
$-59.6M
$340.6M
Q1 24
$-56.7M
$295.9M
FCF Margin
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
59.4%
Q3 25
7.7%
56.2%
Q2 25
42.0%
Q1 25
2.6%
38.9%
Q4 24
-4.8%
56.0%
Q3 24
6.2%
57.3%
Q2 24
-9.3%
48.1%
Q1 24
-10.5%
43.5%
Capex Intensity
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
1.3%
1.5%
Q3 25
0.7%
0.5%
Q2 25
0.8%
1.5%
Q1 25
1.9%
1.5%
Q4 24
1.1%
1.9%
Q3 24
1.6%
0.9%
Q2 24
2.2%
1.2%
Q1 24
0.9%
0.6%
Cash Conversion
FWRD
FWRD
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
1.76×
Q3 25
1.38×
Q2 25
1.11×
Q1 25
1.05×
Q4 24
1.41×
Q3 24
1.50×
Q2 24
1.31×
Q1 24
1.17×

Financial Flow Comparison

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

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

FWRD
FWRD

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

MSCI
MSCI

Recurring Subscriptions$246.4M30%
Asset Based Fees$211.7M26%
Analytics Segment$182.3M22%
Sustainability And Climate Segment$90.3M11%
Other$70.9M9%
Non Recurring$21.1M3%

Related Comparisons