Stock Analysis

Maxtech Ventures Inc. (CNSX:MVT): What Does Its Beta Value Mean For Your Portfolio?

CNSX:SPRK
Source: Shutterstock

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

Anyone researching Maxtech Ventures Inc. (CNSX:MVT) might want to consider the historical volatility of the share price. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. 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 are more sensitive to general market forces than others. 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 below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price.

View our latest analysis for Maxtech Ventures

What does MVT's beta value mean to investors?

Given that it has a beta of 1.98, we can surmise that the Maxtech Ventures share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If the past is any guide, we would expect that Maxtech Ventures shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Many would argue that beta is useful in position sizing, but fundamental metrics such as revenue and earnings are more important overall. You can see Maxtech Ventures's revenue and earnings in the image below.

CNSX:MVT Income Statement, April 29th 2019
CNSX:MVT Income Statement, April 29th 2019

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

With a market capitalisation of CA$3.0m, Maxtech Ventures is a very small company by global standards. It is quite likely to be unknown to most investors. It has a relatively high beta, suggesting it is fairly actively traded for a company of its size. Because it takes less capital to move the share price of a small company like this, when a stock this size is actively traded it is quite often more sensitive to market volatility than similar large companies.

What this means for you:

Since Maxtech Ventures has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. In order to fully understand whether MVT is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as Maxtech Ventures’s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

  1. Financial Health: Are MVT’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
  2. Past Track Record: Has MVT 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 MVT's historicals for more clarity.
  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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.