diff --git a/web-next/src/components/LanguageSelect.tsx b/web-next/src/components/LanguageSelect.tsx
index c3216aadb..74e8b81a5 100644
--- a/web-next/src/components/LanguageSelect.tsx
+++ b/web-next/src/components/LanguageSelect.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { POSSIBLE_LOCALES } from "@hackerspub/models/i18n";
-import { Show } from "solid-js";
+import { createMemo, Show } from "solid-js";
 import {
   Combobox,
   ComboboxContent,
@@ -28,20 +28,37 @@ interface LocaleInfo {
   readonly disabled: boolean;
 }
 
+// `Intl.DisplayNames` instances are expensive: each one loads CLDR tables for
+// its target locale. With ~200 entries in POSSIBLE_LOCALES we'd otherwise
+// allocate that many tables on every read of `locales()`. Cache per-locale
+// formatters once at module scope and reuse them.
+const nativeDisplayNamesCache = new Map<string, Intl.DisplayNames>();
+function getNativeDisplayNames(locale: string): Intl.DisplayNames {
+  let dn = nativeDisplayNamesCache.get(locale);
+  if (dn == null) {
+    dn = new Intl.DisplayNames(locale, { type: "language" });
+    nativeDisplayNamesCache.set(locale, dn);
+  }
+  return dn;
+}
+
+const englishNames = new Intl.DisplayNames("en", { type: "language" });
+
 export function LanguageSelect(props: LanguageSelectProps) {
   const { t, i18n } = useLingui();
-  const displayNames = new Intl.DisplayNames(i18n.locale, { type: "language" });
-  const englishNames = new Intl.DisplayNames("en", { type: "language" });
-  const locales = () => {
+  const displayNames = createMemo(() =>
+    new Intl.DisplayNames(i18n.locale, { type: "language" })
+  );
+  const locales = createMemo(() => {
+    const dn = displayNames();
     const localeCodes: string[] = [...POSSIBLE_LOCALES];
-    if (props.value != null && localeCodes.includes(props.value.baseName)) {
+    if (props.value != null && !localeCodes.includes(props.value.baseName)) {
       localeCodes.push(props.value.baseName);
     }
-    const locales = localeCodes.map<LocaleInfo>((locale) => {
-      const name = displayNames.of(locale) ?? locale;
-      const nativeName =
-        new Intl.DisplayNames(locale, { type: "language" }).of(locale) ??
-          locale;
+    const exclude = props.exclude;
+    const result = localeCodes.map<LocaleInfo>((locale) => {
+      const name = dn.of(locale) ?? locale;
+      const nativeName = getNativeDisplayNames(locale).of(locale) ?? locale;
       return {
         code: locale,
         name,
@@ -50,12 +67,12 @@ export function LanguageSelect(props: LanguageSelectProps) {
           englishNames.of(locale) ?? ""
         }`
           .trim(),
-        disabled: props.exclude?.some((l) => l.baseName === locale) ?? false,
+        disabled: exclude?.some((l) => l.baseName === locale) ?? false,
       };
     });
-    locales.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name));
-    return locales;
-  };
+    result.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name));
+    return result;
+  });
   return (
     <Combobox<LocaleInfo>
       options={locales()}
diff --git a/web-next/src/components/Timestamp.tsx b/web-next/src/components/Timestamp.tsx
index 475e3b281..0ec3138db 100644
--- a/web-next/src/components/Timestamp.tsx
+++ b/web-next/src/components/Timestamp.tsx
@@ -88,6 +88,25 @@ export function getRelativeTimeUpdateDelayMs(
   return DAY;
 }
 
+// `Intl.RelativeTimeFormat` is comparatively expensive to construct (it loads
+// CLDR data for the locale). The previous implementation built a fresh
+// formatter on every render, which is wasteful when 25+ timeline cards each
+// re-render their relative timestamp every 1s/30s/1min. Cache by the
+// (locale, options) tuple that actually affects output.
+const relativeTimeFormatCache = new Map<string, Intl.RelativeTimeFormat>();
+function getRelativeTimeFormat(
+  locale: string,
+  options: Intl.RelativeTimeFormatOptions,
+): Intl.RelativeTimeFormat {
+  const key = `${locale}|${options.numeric ?? ""}|${options.style ?? ""}`;
+  let f = relativeTimeFormatCache.get(key);
+  if (f == null) {
+    f = new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(locale, options);
+    relativeTimeFormatCache.set(key, f);
+  }
+  return f;
+}
+
 function formatRelativeTime(
   currentDate: Date,
   targetDate: Date,
@@ -107,16 +126,17 @@ function formatRelativeTime(
   for (const { unit, ms } of UNITS) {
     if (absDiff >= ms) {
       const value = Math.round(diffMs / ms);
-      const f = new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(locale, options).format(
-        value,
-        unit,
-      );
+      const f = getRelativeTimeFormat(locale, options).format(value, unit);
       return options.capitalizeFirstLetter
         ? f.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + f.slice(1)
         : f;
     }
   }
-  const f = new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(locale).format(0, "second");
+  // Use the caller-supplied `options` here so the fallback respects
+  // `numeric` / `style` the same way the loop above does. Hardcoding a
+  // different `numeric` would change the output for value=0 (e.g. "now"
+  // under "auto" vs "0 seconds ago" under the Intl default "always").
+  const f = getRelativeTimeFormat(locale, options).format(0, "second");
   return options.capitalizeFirstLetter
     ? f.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + f.slice(1)
     : f;