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Does Market Volatility Impact FibroGen, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:FGEN) Share Price?

If you own shares in FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGEN) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. First, we have company specific volatility, which is the price gyrations of an individual stock. Holding at least 8 stocks can reduce this kind of risk across a portfolio. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market.

Some stocks mimic the volatility of the market quite closely, while others demonstrate muted, exagerrated or uncorrelated price movements. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk', beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is 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.

View our latest analysis for FibroGen

What FGEN's beta value tells investors

Zooming in on FibroGen, we see it has a five year beta of 1.83. This is above 1, so historically its share price has been influenced by the broader volatility of the stock market. If this beta value holds true in the future, FibroGen shares are likely to rise more than the market when the market is going up, but fall faster when the market is going down. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether FibroGen is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below.

NasdaqGS:FGEN Income Statement, October 24th 2019
NasdaqGS:FGEN Income Statement, October 24th 2019

Could FGEN's size cause it to be more volatile?

FibroGen is a fairly large company. It has a market capitalisation of US$3.4b, which means it is probably on the radar of most investors. It has a relatively high beta, suggesting it may be somehow leveraged to macroeconomic conditions. For example, it might be a high growth stock with lots of investors trading the shares. It's notable when large companies to have high beta values, because it usually takes substantial capital flows to move their share prices.

What this means for you:

Since FibroGen 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. In order to fully understand whether FGEN is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as FibroGen’s financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following:

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

  2. Past Track Record: Has FGEN 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 FGEN's historicals for more clarity.

  3. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how FGEN 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.