Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Down 1.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of Rigetti fell 1.5% to $16.615 on Friday with volume down 37% from average; the stock trades near its 50‑day moving average ($16.19) but well below its 200‑day average ($24.42) and has a market cap of $5.52 billion.
• Analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $30.64 despite recent downward revisions by some firms (e.g., Needham $51→$31, Benchmark $35→$25) and a mix of 8 Buys, 4 Holds and 1 Sell.
• Rigetti beat EPS estimates (loss of $0.03 vs. $0.05 expected) but missed revenue ($1.87M vs. $2.33M) with revenue down 17.9% YoY and very negative margins, and both the CFO and CTO sold shares on March 10, trimming their positions.

Shares of Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI - Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $16.10 and last traded at $16.6150. 19,153,466 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 30,463,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing from $51.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Rigetti Computing from $35.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Rigetti Computing to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Rigetti Computing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.64.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $16.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.42. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.43 and a beta of 1.82.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.33 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 3,111.92% and a negative return on equity of 14.91%. The business's revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rigetti Computing

In other Rigetti Computing news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total value of $74,810.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,076,669.68. This trade represents a 2.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $643,316.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 651,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,421,533.28. This represents a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 119.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 260,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,087,000 after buying an additional 141,541 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 43.8% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,860,000 after buying an additional 744,577 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 436.7% in the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 80,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,398,000 after buying an additional 65,505 shares during the period. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rigetti Computing in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,752,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Rigetti Computing in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.38% of the company's stock.

About Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti's offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.

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