Ten Small-Cap Consumer Names Show Weakest YTD Momentum
Black Rock Coffee Bar and Kodiak AI lead a group of ten U.S. small-cap consumer discretionary stocks with negative year-to-date returns and bottom-tier momentum grades.
Ten U.S. small-cap consumer discretionary companies currently exhibit the weakest price momentum in their sector, according to a quantitative screen shared by GN auto stocks/consumer: consumer stocks. All ten names have posted negative year-to-date returns, with momentum grades ranging from F to D-. The screening process evaluates medium- and long-term price performance relative to sector peers, identifying these firms as laggards in current market conditions.
The decline is led by Black Rock Coffee Bar, which has dropped 68.94% since the start of the year. Kodiak AI follows with a 64.65% loss, while ThredUp has fallen 60.95%. These figures reflect sustained downward pressure on equity values, indicating that investor sentiment toward these specific consumer discretionary businesses has deteriorated significantly compared to the broader market.
Steepest Declines Among Small-Cap Names
Black Rock Coffee Bar records the steepest decline in this group, losing nearly 69% of its value year-to-date. The company holds an F momentum grade, signaling the weakest relative performance within the consumer discretionary sector. Kodiak AI also carries an F grade, with its stock down 64.65% from the beginning of the year. ThredUp, another F-rated name, has seen its share price fall 60.95%, placing it third in this list of weakest performers.
Broad Sector Weakness Across Subsectors
The weakness extends across various consumer discretionary subsectors, including automotive, retail, and food service. Lucid Group and Serve Robotics both have F grades, with year-to-date drops of 58.56% and 57.71%, respectively. Build-A-Bear Workshop and Camping World Holdings hold D- grades, reflecting slightly better but still negative momentum. Build-A-Bear is down 57.34%, while Camping World has lost 40.80% of its value.
Other names in this cohort include EVgo, Papa John's International, and Neighborhood Intelligence. EVgo has declined 50% year-to-date, while Papa John's is down 47.52%. Neighborhood Intelligence has fallen 38%, making it the least negative performer in this specific screen, yet it still retains an F momentum grade. This indicates that even the top performer among this weak group is underperforming sector peers.
Momentum Grading Methodology and Implications
The momentum grades are derived from a quantitative evaluation of price performance relative to other companies in the same sector. The system incorporates medium- and long-term price measures to assign these grades. An F grade represents the lowest tier of momentum, while a D- is the next lowest tier. For investors, these grades serve as a signal of relative underperformance, highlighting companies that have failed to gain or maintain price strength against sector benchmarks.
The uniformity of negative returns across all ten stocks suggests a broader challenge for small-cap consumer discretionary firms in the current market environment. While individual business drivers vary, the shared negative momentum indicates a lack of positive price catalysts for these specific equities. The data underscores the divergence between these small-cap names and the broader market, where momentum is a key driver of short-term trading activity.
