Renaissance buys GameStop and AMC shares, filing says

Renaissance also increased its position in cinema chain AMC by 78 per cent during Q1 to give it a total of nearly 8.7 million shares, the securities filing showed

Hedge fund Renaissance Technologies added a new long position in GameStop and significantly increased its position in AMC Entertainment during Q1, putting it in position to benefit from the meme stock mania sweeping through the U.S. equity market this week.

Renaissance added 1,004,958 shares of videogame retailer GameStop during the quarter, which had a value of nearly $12.6 million at the end of March, as per a securities filing released on May 13.

Meme stocks have surged this week after an account linked to Keith Gill, the central figure behind the previous meme stock frenzy in 2021, posted messages on social media platform X. The shares began to lose momentum on Wednesday.

Quarterly disclosures of hedge fund managers’ stock holdings in 13-F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are one of the few public ways of tracking what hedge fund managers are selling and buying. The disclosures are made 45 days after the end of each quarter and may not reflect current positions.

GameStop shares are more than 93 per cent higher for the week and more than 300 per cent higher over the past 10 trading days, potentially making Renaissance Technologies’ stake now worth around $33.5 million if it kept the position.

Renaissance also increased its position in cinema chain AMC Entertainment by 78 per cent during Q1 to give it a total of nearly 8.7 million shares, according to the securities filing.

Shares of other firms, including AMC Entertainment, headphones maker Koss and food storage container firm Tupperware have followed GameStop higher. Like GameStop, many of the stocks are heavily shorted.