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A disastrous few quarters for holders of Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) took a fresh turn for the worse in May after the company released disappointing quarterly results. Shares of Forward fell 23.7% for the month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after investors got a glimpse of how bad things are at the transportation company.

A bad deal creates bad results

Forward Air is an asset-light provider of transportation services. The stock has been under pressure since last year when the company announced its intention to acquire Omni Logistics. The deal raised objections from activist investors who argued that Forward Air was overpaying.

The deal closed in January, and in early May, Forward Air announced a $0.64 per-share quarterly loss on revenue of $541.8 million. This was considerably worse than the $0.11 per-share loss on sales of $604 million that Wall Street had predicted.

Forward was weighed down by Omni's results due to the target's added exposure to sluggish international freight markets. The entire transportation sector has been under pressure as customers have cut back on inventories in response to concerns about the health of the economy, but Forward Air's declines were made worse by its international exposure.

Is Forward Air a buy after its disastrous May?

Shares of Forward Air have lost more than 80% of their value since last summer, but there's value in this collection of assets. The question is, how will the company navigate through the Omni integration so that Wall Street can begin to recognize that value again?

That task falls to new CEO Shawn Stewart, who took over in late April after Tom Schmitt was ousted in the wake of the Omni deal. There could also be an outside push to either sell assets or find a buyer.

In late May, Forward Air shares got a lift on reports that activist Irenic Capital Management has built a stake in the business and is pushing the board to consider a strategic review. Irenic could also push for board representation, which could add near-term uncertainty about the direction of the company. Activists could even push for someone other than Schmitt to run the company.

There are macro- and company-specific issues here, and a lot could go wrong. But it's also possible that forces are aligning to fix what ails the company. If so, the worst could finally be over for shareholders.

For those who can stomach volatility and understand the risks, this could be a good time to look at Forward Air shares.

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Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.