diff --git a/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/ChartCard.swift b/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/ChartCard.swift
index e820de15f83a..5ba83f0ccb09 100644
--- a/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/ChartCard.swift
+++ b/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/ChartCard.swift
@@ -118,8 +118,13 @@ struct ChartCard: View {
     @ViewBuilder
     private var chartContentView: some View {
         if viewModel.isFirstLoad {
-            mainChartView(metric: selectedMetric, data: mockChartData)
-                .redacted(reason: .placeholder)
+            // Plain shapes instead of a `Chart` with mock data. Building Swift Charts
+            // (and compiling its Metal shaders) during the push transition is a
+            // measurable part of the first-open lag, and the placeholder is replaced
+            // as soon as data arrives anyway.
+            ChartLoadingPlaceholder(chartType: selectedChartType, metric: selectedMetric)
+                .frame(height: chartHeight)
+                .padding(.horizontal, -Constants.step1)
                 .opacity(0.2)
                 .pulsating()
         } else if let data = viewModel.chartData[selectedMetric] {
@@ -291,6 +296,53 @@ struct ChartCard: View {
     }
 }
 
+/// A cheap stand-in for the chart while the first data set loads, mirroring the
+/// card's selected chart type.
+private struct ChartLoadingPlaceholder: View {
+    let chartType: ChartType
+    let metric: SiteMetric
+
+    private let barHeights: [CGFloat] = [0.45, 0.7, 0.55, 0.9, 0.6, 0.8, 0.5, 0.75, 0.65, 0.85, 0.4, 0.7, 0.6, 0.95]
+    private let lineHeights: [CGFloat] = [
+        0.32, 0.38, 0.35, 0.42, 0.46, 0.43, 0.50, 0.55, 0.52, 0.58, 0.63, 0.60, 0.67, 0.72, 0.69, 0.78, 0.85
+    ]
+
+    var body: some View {
+        switch chartType {
+        case .columns:
+            bars
+        case .line:
+            line
+        }
+    }
+
+    private var bars: some View {
+        GeometryReader { proxy in
+            HStack(alignment: .bottom, spacing: Constants.step0_5) {
+                ForEach(barHeights.indices, id: \.self) { index in
+                    RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 3)
+                        .fill(metric.primaryColor)
+                        .frame(height: proxy.size.height * barHeights[index])
+                }
+            }
+            .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, maxHeight: .infinity, alignment: .bottom)
+        }
+    }
+
+    private var line: some View {
+        GeometryReader { proxy in
+            let size = proxy.size
+            let step = size.width / CGFloat(lineHeights.count - 1)
+            Path { path in
+                path.addLines(lineHeights.enumerated().map { index, height in
+                    CGPoint(x: CGFloat(index) * step, y: size.height * (1 - height))
+                })
+            }
+            .stroke(metric.primaryColor, style: StrokeStyle(lineWidth: 3, lineCap: .round, lineJoin: .round))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 private struct CardGradientBackground: View {
     let metric: SiteMetric
 
@@ -408,3 +460,13 @@ private struct ChartCardPreview: View {
     }
     .background(Color(.systemGroupedBackground))
 }
+
+#Preview("Loading placeholders") {
+    VStack(spacing: 24) {
+        ChartLoadingPlaceholder(chartType: .columns, metric: .views)
+            .frame(height: 140)
+        ChartLoadingPlaceholder(chartType: .line, metric: .views)
+            .frame(height: 140)
+    }
+    .padding()
+}
diff --git a/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/TodayCard.swift b/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/TodayCard.swift
index b9c947db166d..febf7c1e0a49 100644
--- a/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/TodayCard.swift
+++ b/Modules/Sources/JetpackStats/Cards/TodayCard.swift
@@ -106,8 +106,14 @@ struct TodayCard: View {
         if let data = viewModel.data {
             makeSparklineView(data)
         } else {
-            let placeholder = makeSparklineView(placeholderData)
-                .redacted(reason: .placeholder)
+            // A plain shape instead of a `Chart` with placeholder data. See the
+            // matching note in `ChartCard`: building Swift Charts during the push
+            // transition is a measurable part of the first-open lag.
+            let placeholder = SparklinePlaceholder(metric: .views)
+                .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
+                .padding(.trailing, 32)
+                .padding(.vertical, 2)
+                .offset(y: -3)
             if viewModel.isLoading {
                 placeholder.pulsating().opacity(0.33)
             } else {
@@ -201,6 +207,31 @@ struct TodayCard: View {
     }
 }
 
+/// A cheap stand-in for `SparklineChart` while the first data set loads:
+/// a gently rising polyline with light jitter, echoing the bell-curve flank
+/// the real chart's placeholder data used to draw. No area wash: under the
+/// loading state's dimming its contribution measures ~2/255, invisible.
+private struct SparklinePlaceholder: View {
+    let metric: SiteMetric
+
+    private let relativeHeights: [CGFloat] = [
+        0.08, 0.11, 0.10, 0.14, 0.16, 0.22, 0.25, 0.35, 0.41, 0.53, 0.61, 0.75, 0.83
+    ]
+
+    var body: some View {
+        GeometryReader { proxy in
+            let size = proxy.size
+            let step = size.width / CGFloat(relativeHeights.count - 1)
+            Path { path in
+                path.addLines(relativeHeights.enumerated().map { index, height in
+                    CGPoint(x: CGFloat(index) * step, y: size.height * (1 - height))
+                })
+            }
+            .stroke(metric.primaryColor, style: StrokeStyle(lineWidth: 2, lineCap: .round, lineJoin: .round))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 private struct SparklineChart: View {
     let dataPoints: [(hour: Int, value: Int)]
     let previousDataPoints: [(hour: Int, value: Int)]
@@ -349,3 +380,9 @@ private struct TodayCardPreview: View {
             .cardStyle()
     }
 }
+
+#Preview("Sparkline placeholder") {
+    SparklinePlaceholder(metric: .views)
+        .frame(width: 220, height: 52)
+        .padding()
+}
diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
index 2532da8ba574..7faa992a7bd6 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 27.3
 -----
-* [*] Stats: Improve performance when opening the Stats screen [#25938]
+* [*] Stats: Improve performance when opening the Stats screen [#25938, #25931]
 
 27.2
 -----