Transaction Expected to Increase SOL-per-Share and Return Over 6 Million Shares of Common Stock to its Treasury Using Low-Cost Financing from Galaxy Digital LLC

Cost Optimization Initiatives Expected to Enhance Operating Leverage

AUSTIN, TX, March 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forward Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWDI) (the "Company" or "Forward"), the leading Solana treasury company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to repurchase 6,164,324 shares of its common stock from an institutional investor in a privately negotiated transaction. The total purchase cost is $27.4 million.

The transaction will reduce Forward's common shares outstanding from 83,142,133 to 76,977,809. As of December 31st, 2025, Forward held 6,962,501 SOL and had 111,591,332 fully diluted shares outstanding resulting in a SOL-per-share of approximately 0.0624. As of March 18th, 2026 and following this transaction, Forward holds 7,013,536 SOL and has 105,894,207 fully diluted shares outstanding, resulting in a SOL-per-share of 0.0662 and an annualized increase of approximately 29%, as depicted in the attached capitalization table.

To finance the transaction, Forward has entered into a Master Digital Currency Loan Agreement with Galaxy Digital LLC. ("Galaxy"), under which the Company has borrowed $40 million at a weighted average annual interest rate of approximately 3.4% APR with an average weighted maturity of approximately 4.9 months. The facility is secured by fwdSOL held in the Company's treasury. Importantly, Forward will continue to earn staking rewards on the underlying SOL, enabling the Company to maintain yield generation while accessing low-cost capital. Forward expects to use the proceeds to finance the share repurchase and support the Company's digital asset treasury strategy.

Forward also announced that it expects certain operating expenses to decline significantly over the coming quarters, as depicted in the table below. The Company currently forecasts that SG&A expenses (excluding stock-based compensation and design segment SG&A) will decrease by approximately 45% from $6.5 million in fiscal Q1 to an estimated $3.6 million by fiscal Q3. This reflects a broader cost reduction plan that includes reductions in fees under the Company's services agreement with Galaxy Digital LP, lower outside legal expenses, reduced marketing expenditures, reduced third-party vendor costs, and other operational efficiencies.