D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) Stock Price Up 7.4% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• D-Wave Quantum shares jumped 7.4% on Thursday, briefly hitting $30.22 on unusually heavy volume of about 54.2 million shares, well above its average daily volume. The stock closed the prior day at $27.48.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with 14 Buy ratings, two Hold ratings and one Sell rating. The consensus price target is $34.67, though Mizuho recently trimmed its target to $29 while Rosenblatt reiterated a $43 target.
• The company’s latest earnings showed a smaller-than-expected loss of ($0.05) EPS, but revenue of $2.86 million came in below estimates and fell sharply year over year. Insiders have also been selling shares, with about 383,553 shares sold over the last 90 days.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS - Get Free Report) shares rose 7.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $30.22 and last traded at $29.5240. Approximately 54,162,652 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 69% from the average daily volume of 31,955,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QBTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on D-Wave Quantum from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded D-Wave Quantum from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.67.

D-Wave Quantum Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 21.31 and a current ratio of 21.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.10. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.13 and a beta of 1.95.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.03. D-Wave Quantum had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a negative net margin of 2,957.23%.The company had revenue of $2.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 80.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sophie C. Ames sold 23,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total value of $437,014.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 596,803 shares in the company, valued at $11,327,320.94. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Rohit Ghai sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total value of $176,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,448.36. This represents a 26.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,553 shares of company stock worth $10,118,016. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,886,036 shares of the company's stock worth $56,075,000 after acquiring an additional 368,486 shares during the period. Encore Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 171,955 shares of the company's stock worth $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 42,159 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 407,235 shares of the company's stock worth $5,876,000 after acquiring an additional 86,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.47% of the company's stock.

About D-Wave Quantum

D-Wave Quantum Inc NYSE: QBTS develops and provides quantum computing systems, software and services focused on quantum annealing technology. Headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, D-Wave designs specialized processors that leverage quantum mechanics to solve complex optimization and sampling problems. Since its founding in 1999 by physicists including Geordie Rose, the company has pursued the development of commercially viable quantum hardware and accompanying software tools.

The company's product portfolio centers on its quantum annealers, which are complemented by hybrid solvers that integrate classical and quantum computing resources.

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