Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Forward Industries shares jumped: The stock opened at $6.68 after closing at $6.20 and was last trading near $6.93 on volume of about 587,000 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: B. Riley and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained bullish views and raised price targets to $9 and $16, respectively, while the overall consensus remains “Hold” with a $12.50 target.
• Fundamentals remain challenging: Forward Industries missed quarterly earnings estimates by $0.84 per share, reported a $10.78 million revenue quarter, and continues to show negative profitability metrics, including a 2,073.82% negative net margin.

Forward Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWDI - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $6.20, but opened at $6.68. Forward Industries shares last traded at $6.9250, with a volume of 587,153 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on FWDI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Forward Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. B Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Forward Industries in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Forward Industries from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Forward Industries from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Forward Industries from $8.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Forward Industries Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $5.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $536.42 million, a P/E ratio of 60.43 and a beta of 0.88.

Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $10.78 million for the quarter. Forward Industries had a negative return on equity of 18.05% and a negative net margin of 2,073.82%. Analysts anticipate that Forward Industries, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Industries

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Forward Industries in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. ParaFi Capital LP acquired a new position in Forward Industries during the second quarter worth about $684,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Forward Industries during the second quarter worth about $739,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Forward Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $180,000.

Forward Industries Company Profile

Forward Industries, Inc NASDAQ: FWDI is a product design, development and manufacturing company that creates solutions for medical, industrial, consumer electronics and other specialized markets. The company is known for developing protective and carrying products, including custom cases, bags, backpacks and related accessories designed to support the transportation and use of electronic and technical equipment.

Forward Industries serves original equipment manufacturers, distributors and other business customers through customized product development and manufacturing programs.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.