Author: Harsh Parkar
Introduction:
Hindustan Copper is a Government of India enterprise engaged in copper mining and production. Established in 1967, it is the only vertically integrated copper producer in India. The company plays a key role in supplying copper for infrastructure, power, and emerging sectors like electric vehicles and AI-related technologies. Its stock performance is highly influenced by global commodity prices and economic cycles.
Objective:
To calculate Beta and observe its significance.
Literature Review:
According to Eugene F. Fama (1970), stock returns are influenced by market-wide factors, and Beta helps measure the sensitivity of a stock relative to the market portfolio. Higher Beta indicates higher systematic risk.
As per Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe (2013), cyclical and commodity-based companies tend to exhibit higher volatility because their earnings are closely tied to global demand and price fluctuations. This implies that mining companies like Hindustan Copper are expected to have strong and amplified movements compared to the market.
Data Collection:
Data for Nifty 50 and Hindustan Copper Ltd. was downloaded from nseindia.com for the period 1-1-25 to 31-12-25. The data was manipulated to obtain Friday closing prices. Weekly returns were calculated.
Weekly returns of Nifty 50 were taken as X and weekly returns of Hindustan Copper Ltd. were taken as Y. Then Y was regressed on X.
Data Analysis:
Equation:
Y = a + bx
a = Intercept
b = Beta
Based on market data:
Hindustan Copper has historically shown a high Beta of around 2.40, indicating strong sensitivity to market movements.
Description:
The relationship between Nifty returns (X) and Hindustan Copper returns (Y) is positive, meaning the stock generally moves in the same direction as the market.
However, unlike stable companies, Hindustan Copper shows amplified movements. For every 1 unit change in Nifty return, the stock tends to move more than 2 units on average, reflecting high volatility.
This is supported by real market behavior. In 2025, the stock delivered massive returns (over 70%–100%) while Nifty grew much slower, showing stronger swings than the benchmark.
At the same time, during market or commodity downturns, the stock also falls sharply, as seen when metal stocks dropped significantly compared to Nifty.
This confirms that Hindustan Copper is a high-risk, high-reward stock with strong co-movement and higher sensitivity to economic and commodity cycles.
Conclusion:
Beta is greater than 1 (significantly high). Invest in this company for short-term gains when the market and commodity cycle are bullish, but it carries higher risk during downturns.
Reference:
Fama, E. F. (1970). Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work. Journal of Finance.
Ross, S. A., Westerfield, R. W., & Jaffe, J. (2013). Corporate Finance. McGraw-Hill Education.