The New Year's Resolution Trade

As thousands of Americans embrace New Year’s resolutions to improve health, diet and fitness, a number of corporations are hoping to cash in on these trends as well.

But the anticipated blast of new-member gym fees and vitamin purchases have had negligible effects on wellness-industry shares, and market trends expose January — the leading month of the “New Year's resolution quarter" — as relatively ominous.

Wellness Companies Slim Down In Early Months

For example, Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW shares actually fell in four consecutive Januaries. The value is presently priced at about $13.30 — less than half of the opening price from 2001.

NutriSystem Inc. NTRI has shown similar January trends, with consistent first-quarter dips going as far back as 2007. However, shares now sit at $36.50, about 4 percent higher than they were at the close of 2016.

Home-fitness giant Nautilus, Inc. NLS has long suffered from the inauspicious January model, but with Wednesday shares about $1.70 higher than they were in December, the company appears to be reversing its early-year fortune.

The newly public Planet Fitness Inc PLNT had its first opportunity to appeal to New Year's investors in January 2016 — a month that dragged company shares to their all-time nadir. Prices currently rest about $4 higher than the initial public offering, and they closed the first day of the year with a $0.03 increase.