Does Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNDX) Have A Particularly Volatile Share Price?

Anyone researching Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNDX) might want to consider the historical volatility of the share price. 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 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. Beta is a widely used metric to measure a stock's exposure to market risk (volatility). Before we go on, it's worth noting that Warren Buffett pointed out in his 2014 letter to shareholders that 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' Having said that, beta can still be rather useful. The first thing to understand about beta is 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Syndax Pharmaceuticals

What SNDX's beta value tells investors

Looking at the last five years, Syndax Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.93. The fact that this is well above 1 indicates that its share price movements have shown sensitivity to overall market volatility. If this beta value holds true in the future, Syndax Pharmaceuticals shares are likely to rise more than the market when the market is going up, but fall faster when the market is going down. 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 Syndax Pharmaceuticals fares in that regard, below.

NasdaqGS:SNDX Income Statement May 25th 2020
NasdaqGS:SNDX Income Statement May 25th 2020

How does SNDX's size impact its beta?

Syndax Pharmaceuticals is a small company, but not tiny and little known. It has a market capitalisation of US$591m, which means it would be on the radar of intstitutional investors. It has a relatively high beta, which is not unusual among small-cap stocks. Because it takes less capital to move the share price of a smaller company, actively traded small-cap stocks often have a higher beta that a similar large-cap stock.

What this means for you:

Beta only tells us that the Syndax Pharmaceuticals share price is sensitive to broader market movements. This could indicate that it is a high growth company, or is heavily influenced by sentiment because it is speculative. Alternatively, it could have operating leverage in its business model. Ultimately, beta is an interesting metric, but there's plenty more to learn. In order to fully understand whether SNDX is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as Syndax Pharmaceuticals’s financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following:

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

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

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

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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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.