Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Up 1.9% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Rigetti shares climbed 1.9% to $19.81 (intraday high $20.17) on unusually heavy volume of 40.1M shares, about 32% above the average, giving the stock a market cap of roughly $6.58 billion.
• Street sentiment is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $31.70 (8 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell), though several analysts have recently trimmed their targets.
• The company slightly beat EPS expectations (loss of $0.03 vs. -$0.05) but missed revenue ($1.87M vs. $2.33M), carries deeply negative margins and shrinking revenue, and saw recent insider selling by the CFO and CTO.

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $20.17 and last traded at $19.81. 40,124,019 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 30,386,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on RGTI. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Rigetti Computing from $35.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Rigetti Computing from $51.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Rigetti Computing from $50.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rigetti Computing has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.70.

Rigetti Computing Trading Up 1.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of -29.13 and a beta of 1.82. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $16.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.92.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 3,111.92% and a negative return on equity of 14.91%. Rigetti Computing's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rigetti Computing news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total value of $643,316.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rigetti Computing by 403.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Rigetti Computing by 454.3% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Rigetti Computing by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.38% of the company's stock.

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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