Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Down 8.7% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares down 8.7% — Rigetti fell to $18.34 intraday on roughly 25.0 million shares traded (about 16% below average), trading between its 50‑day ($16.37) and 200‑day ($22.56) moving averages.
• Analysts carry a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $30.64, but several firms have trimmed targets and at least one analyst downgraded the stock to "sell."
• Mixed fundamentals and insider activity: quarterly EPS slightly beat (-$0.03 vs. -$0.05) but revenue missed and fell 17.9% YoY, the company posts negative margins, and both the CFO and CTO recently sold shares.

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 8.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $18.07 and last traded at $18.34. Approximately 25,026,557 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 29,754,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RGTI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rigetti Computing from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Rigetti Computing from $50.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Rigetti Computing from $51.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut Rigetti Computing to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.64.

Rigetti Computing Trading Down 8.7%

The company's 50 day moving average is $16.37 and its 200 day moving average is $22.56. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of -26.97 and a beta of 1.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,421,533.28. This trade represents a 5.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigetti Computing

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rigetti Computing by 40.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,046,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $954,665,000 after acquiring an additional 9,228,888 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 1,632.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,571,289 shares of the company's stock worth $56,954,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,873 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rigetti Computing during the second quarter worth $21,887,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing during the 4th quarter valued at $38,889,000. Finally, Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing in the 3rd quarter worth $47,752,000. 35.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rigetti Computing Company Profile

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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