Barclays strategists Venu Krishna, Riddhiman Dass, and others pointed out in their latest report that in the past five rate hike cycles, energy stocks were the only sector to record positive returns within one quarter after the first rate hike, with a median gain of 0.3%. Meanwhile, financial stocks performed the worst, with a median decline of 8.4%, and small-cap stocks fell even deeper by 7.2%. The report also found that at the style factor level, value stocks outperformed growth stocks, and large-cap stocks significantly led small-cap stocks.