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Beta

Expected stock move ≈ Beta × Market move

Beta estimates how hard a stock usually moves when the whole market moves. It is not a measure of whether the company can collapse on its own.

01 Feel it first

How hard does it swing with the market?

Pick Defensive, Market, or Aggressive — then click Market drops 10%. Watch how far this stock falls compared with the market.

Stock
−10%

02 Break the intuition

"Low beta means safe."

Beta is co-movement with the market, not company-specific danger. Low-beta names can still go to zero on bad news.

LOW BETA
0.4
vs market
Market −10%Stock ~−4%
Dampened co-move
STILL RISKY?
Yes
company-specific
Fraud / cutCan go to 0
Not downside-proof
A 0.4 beta utility moves gently with the market — until a dividend cut, lawsuit, or fraud hits. Beta does not measure company-specific blow-ups. Low co-movement ≠ cannot collapse.

03 Feel the beta

Market moves, stock moves

Pick a beta preset, then tap Market +10% or Market −10%. Watch how far the stock swings versus the market.

Beta
Base move
±10%
Beta
1.0×

Pick a beta, then tap Market +10% or Market −10%.

04 Watch the path

Drop, then recovery

Same market crash and rebound. Defensive and aggressive stocks take very different paths.

Pick a path
Press play
100

Illustrative path through a market drop and recovery.

Pick a path, then press Play to watch the years fill in.

05 Two flavors

Raw vs adjusted beta

Same idea — adjusted beta pulls extreme numbers toward the market average of 1.0.

A straight historical fit of the stock’s moves versus an index. Noisy for young listings and can change a lot depending on which years you measure.

06 Sector sketch

Typical beta by sector

Utilities tend lower; tech tends higher. Always check the specific stock.

Utilities ~0.6
0.6
Consumer ~0.9
0.9
Tech ~1.3
1.3
Small biotech ~1.6
1.6

Illustrative sector betas vs a broad equity index.

07 Check yourself

Five quick checks

Question 1 of 5
Quick checkMarket −10%, beta 1.5. Expected stock move:
−15% is right. Expected move ≈ 1.5 × (−10%) = −15%.

08 Where it breaks

When beta misleads

The number drifts over time

Beta measured in a calm bull market can look nothing like beta in a crash. Past co-movement is not a promise.

It depends which index you use

Beta versus the S&P is not the same as beta versus a local or sector index. Know the benchmark.

More debt raises equity beta

Borrowing can change beta without changing the day-to-day business. A recap can rewrite the number.

Not a crash or fraud meter

Beta is about moving with the market. It does not measure liquidity risk, fraud risk, or how far a stock can fall on its own news.

See beta on a live stock.

Open any ticker for risk context beside valuation — then compare peers before you call something “safe.”