Beta measures a stock's sensitivity to movements in the overall market and represents its level of systematic (non-diversifiable) risk. A beta greater than 1.0 indicates that the stock tends to move more than the market in response to market-wide changes. For example, if the market increases by 1%, a stock with a beta of 1.2 is expected, on average, to increase by approximately 1.2%. Conversely, it would also decline more sharply during market downturns. From a capital market theory perspective, higher beta implies higher risk and therefore a higher required rate of return to compensate investors.
Financial managers use beta in the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to estimate the cost of equity.
Option B correctly describes the implication of a beta greater than one.