Quantitative fund entry
The Zhitong Finance App learned that Renaissance Technologies LLC, a quantitative fund founded by the late Jim Simons, bought a large number of AMC Cinemas (AMC.US) and Game Station (GME.US) shares before the current MEME stock rise.
According to regulatory documents, the hedge fund purchased 3.82 million AMC shares in the first quarter of 2024. At the same time, Renaissance also snapped up 1 million shares of Game Station shares, and new positions were created in the three months ending March 31.
The shares of AMC and GameStop more than doubled at the beginning of this week, which is reminiscent of the MEME stock trading boom in 2021, when retail traders pushed the two companies' shares to record highs. This frenzy was sparked by a post posted by Keith Gill on Sunday X, who became famous in 2021 when he posted a post about GameStop on Reddit under the screen name “Roaring Kitty” (Roaring Kitty).
Since then, this round of gains has cooled down. As of Thursday's close, AMC was down more than 15%, and GameStop was down more than 30%.
Currently, both companies' stock prices are far below the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stock prices of AMC and GameStop both fell sharply in the first quarter of 2024, falling 39% and 29%, respectively.
Of course, these documents are only a microcosm of how these funds, which manage more than $100 million in assets, hold US stocks. This data only tracks holdings up to the end of March, and these funds may have changed positions in the past month and a half.
Marco Iachini of Vanda Research wrote in a note to clients this week: “Today, quantified/hedge funds are better prepared to deal with these situations. If there's any difference, it's that we think they are participating in the squeeze with retail investors, but there is a high possibility that retail investors will be the first to withdraw from these deals.”
Renaissance Technologies isn't the only hedge fund trading popular meme stocks in the first few months of this year.
Balyasny Asset Management LP purchased both AMC and GameStop in the first quarter. DE Shaw & Co. Inc. sold both shares. Citadel Advisors LLC sold AMC shares, and hedge funds such as Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC and ExodusPoint Capital Management LP sold GameStop positions.