Rigetti Computing's stock has fallen from around $56 last October to roughly $14, and the base case over the next 18 months points to continued milestone-driven progress without meaningful revenue growth. The company reported just $4.4 million in revenue last quarter while spending $19.9 million on research and development, holding $569 million in cash and short-term investments. A letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce could provide up to $100 million in government funding over three years, and a planned 1,000-plus qubit system in the U.K. is three to four years away. In a bullish scenario, meeting qubit milestones and delivering on an $8.4 million contract with India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing could eventually lift the stock, while the bear case warns of missed milestones and dilution from new share issuance.
D-Wave Quantum Secures Up to $100 Million in CHIPS Act Funding
D-Wave Quantum entered the third quarter with a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, providing access to up to $100 million in funding under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The agreement, signed Sept. 8, builds on a previously announced Letter of Intent and supports efforts to advance domestic quantum computing capabilities. First-half bookings reached $35.5 million, up 1,120% year over year, while production applications accounted for 37.3% of first-half QCaaS revenues. On Aug. 5, D-Wave reported a research advance published in Nature involving its superconducting dual-rail architecture and quantum error correction, and on Jul. 27 it signed an agreement with AT&T to expand AT&T's use of its quantum computing technology, with early work cutting network optimization processing time from about one hour to less than 15 seconds. Among peers, IonQ completed the SkyWater acquisition on July 31 and updated its 2026 revenue outlook to $450-$460 million, while Rigetti received finalized CHIPS R&D funding of up to $100 million in September. D-Wave shares have lost 55.3% over the past year, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
QBTS · Regulation · Positive Definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce gives access to up to $100 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding.
QBTS03.BK · Regulation · Positive Definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce gives access to up to $100 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding.
T · Demand · Positive Signed an agreement with D-Wave to expand AT&T's use of its quantum computing technology, cutting network optimization time.
Zapata Quantum Joins IBM Quantum Network to Build Practical Applications
Zapata Quantum has joined the IBM Quantum Network, the company announced, with plans to use IBM's quantum computers alongside its own use-case discovery and application development expertise. The Boston-based company, which trades over the counter under the ticker ZPTA, said the effort aims to close the quantum application gap by translating advances in quantum computing into mission-critical applications. Chief Executive Sumit Kapur said IBM's rapid progress toward fault-tolerant quantum computing brings that application gap into sharper focus, while Vice President of Strategy and Co-Founder Jonny Olson said superconducting qubits remain one of the most capable paths to advantage because their hardware is fast. The move builds on prior joint research between the two companies, including a landmark study published in Nature Biotechnology that produced experimentally validated candidates targeting KRAS and was named one of the journal's Top 10 Articles of 2025, as well as co-authored work in npj Quantum Information on variational quantum factoring. Zapata said insights from the network will inform Quantum Pilot, its hardware-agnostic platform that helps enterprises identify, prioritize and develop quantum applications as hardware matures.
ZPTA · Technology · Positive Zapata joins IBM Quantum Network to use IBM hardware with its own application-development expertise, advancing its Quantum Pilot platform.
IBM · Technology · Positive Zapata joins IBM Quantum Network to build applications on IBM's quantum computers, expanding IBM's quantum ecosystem.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. launched a beta program for its gate-model quantum computing simulator, offering select customers early access ahead of general availability. The simulator is built around D-Wave's dual-rail superconducting gate-model technology, which is designed to use error detection to deliver efficient quantum error correction with significantly lower hardware overhead as systems scale. Beta participants include BBVA, FirstQFM, Florida Atlantic University and the Julich Supercomputing Centre. The company said the program marks an important milestone in its gate-model development roadmap and lets customers experiment with error-aware programming and build quantum applications in preparation for its forthcoming gate-model systems.
QBTS · Technology · Positive D-Wave launched a beta program for its gate-model quantum simulator built on its dual-rail superconducting technology, advancing its product roadmap.
QBTS03.BK · Technology · Positive D-Wave launched a beta program for its gate-model quantum simulator built on its dual-rail superconducting technology, advancing its product roadmap.
D-Wave Quantum Secures Up to $100 Million in CHIPS Act Funding and New Deals
D-Wave Quantum has executed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, based on its previously announced Letter of Intent, giving it access to up to $100 million in funding under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act to accelerate research and development of its annealing and gate-model quantum systems. NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest mobile operator, deployed a second D-Wave-powered quantum computing application in production, which cut location-registration signals generated when devices crossed tracking-area-list boundaries by 65.3% at the daily peak and reduced paging signals by 7.0%. D-Wave was also awarded up to CAD $300,000 from the National Research Council of Canada's Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program to advance annealing quantum computing software for commercial applications, and AT&T agreed to expand its use of D-Wave's quantum computing technology to address complex optimization challenges across its network operations. Separately, Rigetti plans to partner with HPE and Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to build the TangleLab supercomputing testbed, delivering a 9-qubit Novera system to the testbed, which is funded by a $5 million National Science Foundation grant, while Quantum Computing signed a three-year framework agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar covering quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communications. Over the past year, QBTS shares have lost 36.2% compared with the broader Internet Software industry's 5.8% decline, and the stock trades at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 93.25X versus the industry average of 4.40X.
QBTS · Capital · Positive D-Wave secured a definitive agreement for up to $100M in CHIPS Act funding to accelerate its quantum R&D.
QBTS · Demand · Positive NTT DOCOMO deployed a second D-Wave-powered application in production and AT&T agreed to expand its use of D-Wave technology.
QUBT · Demand · Positive Quantum Computing signed a three-year framework agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University covering quantum computing, sensing and communications.
RGTI · Demand · Positive Rigetti plans to partner with HPE and Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to build the TangleLab testbed, delivering a 9-qubit Novera system.
9432.JP · Demand · Positive NTT DOCOMO deployed a second D-Wave-powered quantum application in production, cutting location-registration and paging signals.
T · Demand · Positive AT&T agreed to expand its use of D-Wave's quantum computing technology for network optimization challenges.
B. Riley Keeps Buy Ratings on IonQ, D-Wave and Rigetti Ahead of Quantum World Congress
B. Riley Securities is maintaining bullish ratings on IonQ, D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing ahead of Quantum World Congress, betting that a shift in government policy from pure research toward commercialization could open a more meaningful revenue path for the quantum-computing sector. The firm kept Buy ratings with price targets of $100 for IonQ, $40 for D-Wave and $35 for Rigetti. Analyst Craig Ellis pointed to the Department of Energy's From Lab to Market session at the September 23-25 conference as a sign that federal policy may increasingly focus on moving quantum technologies into commercial applications. The event will also feature a two-hour National Quantum Updates session with more than 10 governments, participation from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and back-to-back keynotes from Microsoft and IBM. B. Riley's thesis is sector-wide, but the report provides no fresh revenue forecasts, cash-flow estimates, technical milestones or new valuation work behind the three price targets, leaving the stocks dependent on long-term expectations rather than near-term financial evidence.
Rigetti Says Coherence Time, Not Qubit Count, Is Its Key Hurdle
Rigetti Computing said in its latest technology update that the biggest challenge in its quantum roadmap is no longer adding more qubits but improving the performance of its flagship 108-qubit Cepheus system. During the second quarter of 2026 earnings call, management acknowledged that coherence time has become the primary bottleneck limiting two-qubit gate fidelity, even as Cepheus-1-108Q stands among only three generally available gate-based quantum computers with more than 100 qubits. The system currently operates with coherence times of roughly 25-30 microseconds, a level that constrains the reliability of quantum operations. Rigetti is directing engineering efforts toward chip redesigns, fabrication process improvements and new materials, including tantalum-capped superconducting contacts, and management expects these initiatives to gradually double or even triple coherence times over the next several years. In peer updates, Quantum Computing Inc. signed a three-year Framework Agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar covering quantum computing, sensing and communications, while IonQ secured an $8.18 million commercial agreement with Congruity360 to integrate quantum-safe networking into its enterprise data management platform.
RGTI · Technology · Neutral Rigetti said coherence time, not qubit count, is now its primary bottleneck, with 25-30 microsecond coherence constraining gate fidelity despite planned chip/material improvements.
IONQ · Demand · Positive IonQ secured an $8.18 million commercial agreement with Congruity360 for quantum-safe networking integration.
QUBT · Demand · Positive Quantum Computing Inc. signed a three-year Framework Agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University covering quantum computing, sensing and communications.
Congruity360 · Demand · Positive Congruity360 signed an $8.18 million commercial agreement with IonQ to integrate quantum-safe networking into its enterprise data management platform.