4 of the Biggest Losers on Wall Street of 2014 - So Far

The first half of the year has been a good one for most investors. The Dow (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GPSC), and Nasdaq (^IXIC) are all trading in positive territory. However, stockholders in some companies haven't been as fortunate. Let's take a look at four of the stocks that have declined sharply through the first six months of 2014.

Coach.com (COH) -- Down 39 percent in 2014

The market leader of luxury handbags was Coach -- until it wasn't. Well-to-do shoppers are still snapping up premium purses, totes and accessories, but they're just not that interested in Coach. Michael Kors (KORS) and other fresh brands are growing at Coach's expense, and in the fickle fashion realm it's hard to be confident about Coach bouncing back.

A bad year got even worse last month when Coach hosted its annual investor day. This is often a time for companies to show off, but Coach warned that it will close 70 underperforming stores and that it will suffer a double-digit sales decline in fiscal 2015. Several analysts downgraded the stock or slashed their price targets after seeing Coach brace itself for continued weakness.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA) -- Down 34 percent in 2014

Shares of Disney (DIS) hit an all-time high this week. DreamWorks Animation -- the rival computer animation studio that seemed to be a worthy challenger after the initial success of the "Shrek" and "Madagascar" franchises -- hasn't been as fortunate.

The year got off to a bad start when DreamWorks Animation posted a substantially larger first-quarter deficit than Wall Street was expecting. The first half then closed with a whimper after "How to Train Your Dragon 2" had a softer than expected initial box office showing. The original movie was a sleeper hit. It's not fair to call the sequel a bomb, but it will likely fail to top the original's ticket sales.

Whole Foods Market (WFM) -- Down 33 percent in 2014

Organic groceries are as popular as ever, but that may also be a problem. Your local grocer is just as likely to stock kale, flaxseed and soy milk these days as Whole Foods. The realization has been painful. Whole Foods has revised its sales forecast lower three times this year, and while most grocers would love to be eyeing 10.5 percent to 11 percent in top-line growth for 2014, they don't trade at the lofty multiples that Whole Foods commanded earlier this year.

Things could get even harder. In April, Walmart (WMT) announced that it's hoping to drive down the prices of its own organic foods by roughly 25 percent with a new private label. Wamart has been trying to make a dent in organics for years, and it may be hard to ignore the threat if it starts offering substantially lower prices.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%SodaStream (SODA) - Down 32 percent in 2014

SodaStream's dream of crossing the globe with its small machines that turn flat water into carbonated soda is still on track. Sales are growing at a healthy clip, even in some of its more established markets in Europe. However, SodaStream's operations have been a mess, leading to shrinking margins and cascading profitability.

Analysts see revenue growth decelerating to 12 percent this year -- well off its historical pace -- but the real bad news is that Wall Street sees net income declining for all of 2014. Some poor stocking decisions in the U.S. ahead of last year's holiday shopping season forced SodaStream into costly repositioning and discounting. SodaStream will have a lot to prove during the second half of this year.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of SodaStream and Walt Disney. John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. The Motley Fool recommends Coach, DreamWorks Animation, Michael Kors Holdings, SodaStream, Walt Disney and Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Coach, Michael Kors Holdings, SodaStream, Walt Disney and Whole Foods Market.