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Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIRS): What Does Its Beta Value Mean For Your Portfolio?

If you're interested in Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIRS), then you might want to consider its beta (a measure of share price volatility) in order to understand how the stock could impact your portfolio. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The second sort is caused by the natural volatility of markets, overall. For example, certain macroeconomic events will impact (virtually) all stocks on the market.

Some stocks mimic the volatility of the market quite closely, while others demonstrate muted, exagerrated or uncorrelated price movements. Beta can be a useful tool to understand how much a stock is influenced by market risk (volatility). However, Warren Buffett said 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk' in his 2014 letter to investors. So, while useful, beta is not the only metric to consider. To use beta as an investor, you must first understand that the overall market has a beta of one. A stock with a beta greater than one is more sensitive to broader market movements than a stock with a beta of less than one.

Check out our latest analysis for Pieris Pharmaceuticals

What we can learn from PIRS's beta value

Given that it has a beta of 1.18, we can surmise that the Pieris Pharmaceuticals share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If the past is any guide, we would expect that Pieris Pharmaceuticals shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Share price volatility is well worth considering, but most long term investors consider the history of revenue and earnings growth to be more important. Take a look at how Pieris Pharmaceuticals fares in that regard, below.

NasdaqCM:PIRS Income Statement, August 27th 2019
NasdaqCM:PIRS Income Statement, August 27th 2019

How does PIRS's size impact its beta?

Pieris Pharmaceuticals is a rather small company. It has a market capitalisation of US$225m, which means it is probably under the radar of most investors. It takes less money to influence the share price of a very small company. This may explain the excess volatility implied by this beta value.

What this means for you:

Since Pieris Pharmaceuticals tends to moves up when the market is going up, and down when it's going down, potential investors may wish to reflect on the overall market, when considering the stock. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Pieris Pharmaceuticals’s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for PIRS’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for PIRS’s outlook.

  2. Past Track Record: Has PIRS been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of PIRS's historicals for more clarity.

  3. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how PIRS measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.

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