Forward Air has put specific numbers on the financial blow it took in the fourth quarter from the cyberbattack that hit its operations in mid-December.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) said its net income per diluted share from continuing operations will be 53 cents to 55 cents in the fourth quarter. Its earlier estimate on EPS for the quarter was 71 cents to 75 cents.
Net income in the quarter last year was 85 cents per share.
Forward Air in the SEC filing Wednesday took apart the 19 cents expected hit on EPS as 11 cents for its expedited freight division, 4 cents for its intermodal segment and 4 cents for other operations. It also suffered a drop of 6 cents per share from a decrease in its “earn-out liability” from the acquisition of FSA Logistix.
All of these hits mean that Forward Air won’t be beating its projections, which it was on track to do. “Adjusting for these impacts, the company expects it would have exceeded the high end of its net income per diluted share guidance range,” the company said in its filing.
Forward Air is releasing its earnings Feb. 12.
Although most of Forward Air’s activities were back online about a week after the Dec. 15 cyberattack, there were a few lingering problems. But in its statement, the company said, “Recovery efforts are completed and the company’s operations are fully functional.”
Forward Air’s stock price has not been noticeably weaker than any of its peers and by some measurements has performed better. According to Barchart, in the last month, Forward Air stock is down 2.9%. Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD) is down 4.15% in the last month. Old Dominion (NASDAQ: ODFL), while not a perfect comparison, is up 4.77%.
More articles by John Kingston
Five days later, Rand McNally says ELD system back online
US Express works overtime in earnings call to praise Variant
