Key points
- Renaissance Technologies' third-quarter 13F is out
- Nvidia (NVDA) went from top holding to almost zero
- Micron (MU) is Renaissance's new biggest stake
- Why Renaissance positions can flip in one quarter
Renaissance Technologies reported almost no Nvidia (NVDA) stock at the end of the third quarter, and Micron Technology (MU) was its largest reported holding, according to the 13F the firm filed on Nov. 12. Nvidia had been the biggest position in its previous filing, for June 30.
Renaissance reported 7,091,256 Nvidia shares worth $1.42 billion at the end of June. As of Sept. 30 it reported 23,170, worth about $5.3 million. Micron went the other way, growing from 211,580 shares to 1,520,639, and the filing values that stake at $1.62 billion.
I went through all 3,151 lines of the filing, and Nvidia turned out to be part of a bigger pattern. Renaissance's reported stakes in most of the largest tech stocks shrank to almost nothing over the same quarter, while its positions in memory chips and chipmaking equipment grew.
Five big tech positions, nearly gone
Nvidia was one of five. Renaissance's reported holdings of Meta Platforms (META), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Broadcom (AVGO) also fell to a tiny fraction of their June levels. Those five holdings were worth $3.88 billion together at June 30, and they'd shrunk to about $10.6 million by Sept. 30.
| Company | June 30 shares | Sept. 30 shares | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia (NVDA) | 7,091,256 | 23,170 | -99.7% |
| Meta Platforms (META) | 2,023,153 | 1,577 | -99.9% |
| Amazon (AMZN) | 2,290,710 | 11,128 | -99.5% |
| Apple (AAPL) | 1,586,526 | 3,246 | -99.8% |
| Broadcom (AVGO) | 849,835 | 734 | -99.9% |
| Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) | 849,080 | 126,320 | -85% |
| Palantir (PLTR) | 7,568,370 | 2,221,974 | -71% |
The last two rows are deep cuts that stop short of near-exits. Renaissance reported 85 percent fewer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) shares and 71 percent fewer Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares than it did at June 30.
Where did Renaissance's holdings grow?
Several chip companies grew at the same time. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) more than doubled, to 1,995,101 shares worth $1.21 billion. That makes AMD the third-largest reported holding. Micron is first. Alphabet (GOOGL) is second once you combine its two share classes, which the filing lists on separate lines: $828 million of Class A stock and $548 million of Class C, or $1.38 billion together.
| Company | June 30 shares | Sept. 30 shares | Change | Sept. 30 value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micron Technology (MU) | 211,580 | 1,520,639 | +619% | $1.62B |
| Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) | 829,697 | 1,995,101 | +140% | $1.21B |
| SpaceX (SPCX) | not reported | 4,113,200 | newly reported | $621M |
| Sandisk (SNDK) | 4,980 | 276,460 | +5,451% | $481M |
| Astera Labs (ALAB) | 153,400 | 570,800 | +272% | $203M |
| Lam Research (LRCX) | 31,600 | 475,661 | +1,405% | $156M |
| Vertiv (VRT) | 30,758 | 443,318 | +1,341% | $107M |
Memory runs through most of that list. Micron and Sandisk (SNDK) both sell memory chips. Lam Research (LRCX) sells the machines chipmakers use to produce them, and Vertiv (VRT) makes power and cooling equipment for data centers.
The filing also lists a SpaceX (SPCX) position worth $621 million that didn't appear in the June 30 filing. Smaller newly reported stakes include AppLovin (APP) at $153 million, Cisco (CSCO) at $124 million, and Snowflake (SNOW) at $72 million.
Why does Renaissance move this fast?
Renaissance filings are fun to read and hard to interpret for the same reason. The firm, founded by the late mathematician Jim Simons, is known for trading on computer models. Its positions turn over quickly, and the changes from one quarter to the next can be huge.
Micron is a good example. Renaissance reported 2,162,986 Micron shares at the end of March. By June 30 the figure was 211,580, about 90 percent lower. By Sept. 30 it was back up to 1,520,639. Nvidia moved in the opposite direction over the same six months, from 2,526,948 shares to 7,091,256, then down to 23,170.
So a near-zero Nvidia line in a Renaissance filing isn't the same signal as a sale by a fund that holds for years. The position could grow again, and the next 13F will show Renaissance's reportable holdings as of Dec. 31.
What the filing leaves out
A 13F is a snapshot of holdings on one day, in this case Sept. 30. It doesn't show individual trades, when they happened, or the prices paid, so it can't tell you exactly how Renaissance's Nvidia position got smaller. It also leaves out short sales, where a fund borrows shares to bet on a decline, so part of the picture is always missing.
The filing also predates this week's Nvidia news. Renaissance reported a much smaller Nvidia position as of Sept. 30, about six weeks before Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Nov. 12. Nvidia shares were down 13.4 percent shortly after the open that day and closed 4.3 percent lower, at $166.19. Nothing in the filing connects the two.
Our Renaissance Technologies tracker page keeps the quarter-by-quarter holdings, and the next filing is due in mid-February.
