Which metric accurately represents the risk associated with a stock?

Explanation

Beta quantifies a stock's volatility relative to the overall market. It shows how much the stock price is likely to fluctuate in response to market changes. A beta above 1 indicates the stock is more volatile than the market, while a beta below 1 suggests it is less volatile. Other options include: Alpha, which measures excess returns beyond the market benchmark; Variance, which calculates the spread of returns but is less specific to market risk; and Market sensitivity, which is not a recognized financial risk metric.