Rigetti Computing Inc

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.

IonQ said it tested the industry's first real-time quantum error decoder, sending its shares up 12% in premarket trading and lifting the broader quantum sector, with Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum each up more than 5.5% and Infleqtion rising a similar amount. Worthington Enterprises surged about 16% after first-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue surpassed Street estimates, with CEO Joseph Hayek citing rapidly growing demand for the company's engineered American Society of Mechanical Engineers tanks used in liquid cooling systems for data centers. KB Home fell more than 1% after projecting fourth-quarter deliveries below expectations and housing gross margins of 16% to 16.6%, short of the 17.2% analysts polled by LSEG sought. Six Flags Entertainment rose 1% after a Wall Street Journal report that activist hedge fund Jana Partners was encouraging the company to explore a sale, following the fund's disappointment with Six Flags' second-quarter earnings report. Maplebear, the Instacart owner, gained more than 3% after announcing that customers on its grocery platform can use Meta's personal AI agent Muse, joining OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini as AI partners.

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.

Anderon, an IBM subsidiary, finalized a $1 billion research-and-development award from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The funding will support Anderon's efforts to advance quantum wafer manufacturing at its facility in Albany, New York, where a 300-millimeter quantum wafer foundry serves customers across the quantum industry. IBM has put up $1 billion of its own money alongside the federal award, and production is underway with quantum wafers already in process. The Anderon award is part of a broader $2 billion package distributed across nine quantum computing companies under the CHIPS and Science Act, with GlobalFoundries in line for $375 million and D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion each expected to receive $100 million; each of the nine firms will give the federal government a minority ownership stake in exchange for the funding. The finalization follows a letter of intent between IBM and the Commerce Department announced in May, and last week Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, and Quantinuum each finalized $100 million deals with the department. IBM stock fell 3.3% on Wednesday and has declined nearly 19% this year.

Wall Street closed the week lower as investors weighed a sharp rise in Treasury yields and fresh inflation data, with the benchmark 10-year yield climbing nearly 20 bps to 4.97% and CPI rising 0.4% month over month in August, in line with estimates and up from July's 0.1% gain. For the week, the blue-chip Dow fell 1.57%, the S&P 500 lost 0.80%, and the Nasdaq Composite handed back 0.66%. Apple formally unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone, at its Sept. 9 product event, with a foldable display starting at $1,999 and availability scheduled for Oct. 23. Novartis shares fell about 14% on Tuesday after the company reported that del-desiran, an experimental drug designed to fight muscle-wasting disease, failed to meet the primary endpoint in a late-stage trial. Oracle shares jumped after the IT giant reported fiscal first-quarter results and guidance that beat Wall Street estimates, with revenue up 30% year over year and cloud revenue climbing 62% to $11.6B, driven largely by a 121% surge in infrastructure revenue. Quantum computing stocks Rigetti Computing, Quantum Computing, and Quantinuum rallied on Tuesday following a combined $300M CHIPS Act funding commitment from the U.S. Department of Commerce, under which the government will receive minority equity stakes in Rigetti and D-Wave.

Quantum computing stocks rallied Tuesday after three companies secured $100 million each in U.S. government funding, while IonQ raised its 2026 revenue forecast. D-Wave, Rigetti, and Quantinuum each received $100 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the CHIPS and Science Act, with the government taking minority equity positions. The funding is earmarked for research and development, not immediate sales, helping recipients tackle technical challenges as they scale quantum systems. IonQ separately lifted its 2026 revenue outlook to $450 million to $460 million from $280 million to $290 million, and introduced its Superion 256 platform with customer deliveries planned for 2027. In trading, D-Wave Quantum gained 6%, Rigetti Computing rose 4%, Quantum Computing added 2.6%, and IonQ climbed 2% even as the broader market fell.

Quantum computing stocks surged on Friday after second-quarter earnings reports showed significant revenue gains across the sector. D-Wave climbed 7% after BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $35 price target, citing an addressable market opportunity of $450 billion to $850 billion. Rigetti jumped 9% as system and component sales reached $4.1 million, up from zero a year earlier, while Quantum Computing leaped 8% after revenue rose to $5.6 million from $65,000. IQM Quantum Computers popped 7% after second-quarter revenue increased 27% year over year to $7.8 million and it guided full-year revenue of $49 million to $55 million, and Infleqtion surged 9% on a 112% year-over-year revenue jump. IonQ increased 7.5% after announcing a partnership with the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation to expand quantum computing access to Canada-based researchers and businesses.

Rigetti Computing reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $5.1 million, up 185.3% from $1.8 million a year earlier and 4.7% above the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by higher sales of 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems. Gross profit rose 286.6% to $2.2 million with gross margin expanding about 1,120 basis points to 42.6%, but operating loss widened to $28.1 million from $19.9 million as research and development expenses increased 53.3% to $20.7 million and selling, general and administrative expenses rose 37.5% to $9.5 million. Customer concentration remained high, with the largest customer representing 64% of revenues and another 16%, while management expects results to fluctuate with contract mix and delivery schedules. The company expects to recognize revenues from an $8.4 million order for an on-premises 108-qubit system from India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in the fourth quarter of 2026 after installation and acceptance testing. Rigetti carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) with Value, Growth, Momentum, and VGM scores of F, F, D, and F respectively.

Rigetti Computing reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of US$5.14 million, up from US$1.80 million a year earlier, while its net loss widened to US$52.61 million from US$39.65 million. The company also announced a letter of intent for up to US$100.00 million in U.S. Department of Commerce quantum R&D support. The results highlight Rigetti's growing role in quantum infrastructure for research, AI, and high-performance computing, including new commercial system deliveries with partners such as Nvidia and HPE. The federal R&D support strengthens the short-term catalyst around government-backed scaling but also sharpens the risk of dependence on public funding and rising losses.

Wall Street analysts see significant upside in three quantum computing stocks—Rigetti Computing, IonQ, and D-Wave Quantum—despite their speculative nature and recent volatility. Rigetti leads with an implied upside of about 81.4% based on a $28.81 target versus its $18.67 close, supported by a letter of intent for up to $100 million in CHIPS Act funding and a 185.3% year-over-year revenue jump to $5.14 million. IonQ posted record Q2 revenue of $80.05 million, up 286.8% year over year, raised full-year 2026 guidance to $280–$290 million, and carries a 68.19% implied upside from its $46.84 close. D-Wave's first-half bookings surged to $35.5 million from $2.9 million a year earlier, with AT&T integrating its annealing platform to cut processing time from one hour to under 15 seconds, though its implied upside is the smallest at 19.7%.

Rigetti Computing is advancing its quantum computing roadmap through new commercial deployments, strategic partnerships, and government initiatives. The company will deliver a 9-qubit Novera quantum computing system to Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center's new TangleLab testbed, expanding its collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and supporting hybrid quantum-classical high-performance computing systems. Rigetti is also advancing its on-premises quantum computing pipeline, including the previously announced 108-qubit system for C-DAC in India, and has a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million in funding over three years, though the proposed funding would involve an equity stake for the government. On the technology front, its Cepheus 108 qubit system is currently achieving approximately 99.9% median single qubit gate fidelity, 99.1% median two qubit gate fidelity, and gate speeds of about 60 nanoseconds, with targets of roughly 1,000 qubits, 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity, and sub-50 nanosecond gate speeds over the next three years. The company is also planning an investment of up to $100 million in the United Kingdom, building on its existing 36-qubit deployment at the National Quantum Computing Centre.

Rigetti Computing shares rallied after the company signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million over three years under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the government receiving an equity stake at a 15% discount to the lowest closing price around key dates. The company also announced plans to invest up to $100 million in the United Kingdom to deploy a quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits within three to four years, aligning with the British government's 2-billion-pound quantum program. First-quarter 2026 revenue rose to $4.4 million from $1.5 million a year earlier, driven by NOVA quantum processing unit deliveries and government contracts, while the operating loss widened to roughly $26 million. The rally reflects investor optimism that government backing provides a path for Rigetti's hardware to become embedded in long-term national infrastructure.

Rigetti Computing announced a partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to build TangleLab, a hybrid quantum-classical supercomputing testbed backed by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Rigetti will provide its 9-qubit Novera quantum computing system, which will be integrated with a classical high-performance computing platform. Construction is scheduled to begin in September 2026, with full operations expected in 2027. The project extends Rigetti's existing collaboration with HPE and aims to advance hybrid quantum-classical computing workflows for research institutions, government organizations, and enterprises.

IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna told Mad Money that quantum computing will have a measurable impact on the company's top and bottom line by 2028 or 2029, and that by the end of the 2030s it represents a trillion dollars of value. Krishna also addressed near-term concerns, noting that about 40% of delayed capital spending deals disclosed in the second quarter had already closed within three to four weeks, and reaffirmed full-year guidance of four-to-five percent constant currency revenue growth with free cash flow increasing by about one billion dollars year-over-year. IBM plans to invest more than ten billion dollars in quantum computing over the next five years and remains on track to deliver its first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029, backed in part by a one-billion-dollar CHIPS incentive commitment and a matching one billion dollars from IBM for the world's first pure-play quantum wafer foundry. The company also announced quantum advantage demonstrations with startup Algorithmiq, the University of Chicago, and Qedma Quantum Computing, solving problems beyond the reach of classical supercomputers.

D-Wave Quantum shares rose 7% to $19.29 after announcing an expanded agreement with AT&T to deploy its annealing quantum systems across network operations. An early application cut a network optimization workload from about one hour to under 15 seconds, a 240x speedup, and AT&T plans to extend the work to outage detection, technician routing, network build planning, and traffic management. Benchmark initiated D-Wave at Buy with a $30 price target. Sympathy moves lifted IonQ 12% to $36.67, Rigetti Computing 12% to $15.88, and Quantum Computing Inc. 8% to $8.06, while the Defiance Quantum ETF rose 1% to $141.12. Rigetti also announced an expanded collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to build TangleLab, a hybrid quantum-classical supercomputing testbed funded by a $5 million National Science Foundation grant, with full operations expected in 2027. Despite the rally, D-Wave trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 482.56 against trailing revenue of $12.44 million, and the pure-play quantum names remain down 16% to 29% year to date.

D-Wave Quantum stock surged more than 9% in pre-market trading on Monday after AT&T announced it will expand the use of D-Wave's technology across its network operations. The agreement builds on previous pilot projects and is aimed at optimizing telecom workloads. Quantum peers also jumped, with Rigetti Computing and Infleqtion climbing more than 3% pre-market, while IBM gained more than 1%. Shares of D-Wave, Rigetti, and Infleqtion have been volatile this year, with all three down more than 35% year-to-date.

Memory stocks rose broadly after Chinese chipmaker CXMT debuted on the Shanghai public market with its stock surging more than 466%, lifting U.S.-listed peers including Micron Technology which advanced 2.5%. Energy stocks followed oil prices lower after the U.S. and Iran agreed to pause attacks, with Chevron down 2.7%, ExxonMobil down 3.2%, and APA, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy each falling around 4%. Forte Biosciences rallied more than 39% on news it will be acquired by Netherlands-headquartered Argenx for $2.2 billion in cash, or $77 per share, a 40% premium to Friday's close. Baker Hughes gained nearly 2.2% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue, with the CEO citing favorable fundamentals and reaffirming full-year guidance. D-Wave Quantum rose more than 7% after announcing a partnership with AT&T to use its annealing quantum computers for AI, while IonQ gained nearly 4.5% and Rigetti Computing added 3.8%.

Rigetti Computing is building a risky but fascinating quantum hardware story, with its U.S.-based Fab-1 facility, government-linked research, and superconducting quantum platform potentially gaining importance if America treats domestic quantum capability as strategic infrastructure.

Kalshi contract traders remain highly skeptical that a deal will materialize before the end of the year for the U.S. government to take a stake in OpenAI or Anthropic, despite recent reports that OpenAI proposed granting a 5% stake to the Trump administration. Traders see odds of less than 30% for such a stake, according to a CNBC report. In contrast, odds are well over 60% that the government could take a stake this year in quantum computing companies Rigetti Computing or D-Wave Quantum, as well as in semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries.

D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing are vying for investor attention as the second half of 2026 begins, with both stocks down year to date amid cautious sentiment. D-Wave enters the period with record bookings and a strong enterprise pipeline, while its acquisition of Quantum Circuits expands its technology into gate-model computing. Rigetti launched general availability of its 108-qubit Cepheus-1 system and reported nearly 199% year-over-year revenue growth, reaffirming its goal of achieving quantum advantage in roughly three years. Analysts have turned cautious on D-Wave's near-term earnings, while Rigetti has seen smaller downward estimate revisions. Zacks Investment Research rates D-Wave a Hold and Rigetti a Sell, favoring D-Wave's commercial traction in the near term.

Rigetti Computing appears better positioned for near-term upside than IonQ following Quantinuum's blockbuster public listing, according to Zacks Investment Research. While both stocks have rallied sharply since April, with IonQ up 109.9% and Rigetti up 58.4%, Rigetti's average analyst price target of $31 implies a 45.1% gain from its last close of $21.36, compared with a 23.7% implied gain for IonQ based on its $69.95 target and $56.55 close. Rigetti also holds $569 million in cash with no debt and is gaining traction with its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system and chiplet architecture, while IonQ leads commercially with record first-quarter revenue of $64.7 million and a raised 2026 revenue guidance of $260-$270 million. However, IonQ's richer valuation after its massive rally may limit additional near-term gains, making Rigetti's risk-reward profile more attractive in the post-Quantinuum environment.

Rigetti Computing is set to receive $100 million in CHIPS Act funding from the Department of Commerce as part of a broader $2 billion investment across nine quantum computing businesses over three years. The funding is tied to specific research and development milestones for Rigetti's superconducting quantum systems and gives the U.S. government an equity stake in the company. The capital aims to accelerate progress toward fault-tolerant quantum architectures and reduce reliance on dilutive equity raises, though the company remains in a pre-commercial phase with trailing-12-month sales of only $10 million and a market capitalization of roughly $7 billion. Analysts note that while the government support adds credibility and non-dilutive capital, Rigetti's price-to-sales ratio of nearly 700 and ongoing operating losses suggest the funding alone does not make the stock an immediate buy.