Traders Purchase Large Volume of D-Wave Quantum Call Options (NYSE:QBTS)

Key Points

• Investors bought 109,771 call options on D‑Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) on Wednesday, a 94% increase versus average daily call volume, indicating unusually strong bullish/options interest.
• Insiders have been selling recently — CFO John M. Markovich sold 10,706 shares and director Rohit Ghai sold 10,000 shares — with 28,706 insider shares sold in the last 90 days while insiders retain about 3.20% ownership.
• Shares rose to $20.16 on heavy volume (60.36M vs. average 28.41M), but the company remains unprofitable with missed EPS and large negative margins; analysts maintain a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average target of $36.50.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 109,771 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 94% compared to the average daily volume of 56,624 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at D-Wave Quantum

In other D-Wave Quantum news, CFO John M. Markovich sold 10,706 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total transaction of $188,746.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,451,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,588,658.01. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rohit Ghai sold 10,000 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total transaction of $176,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 27,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,448.36. The trade was a 26.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,706 shares of company stock worth $509,027. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QBTS. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,135 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 162,088 shares of the company's stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 60,668 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 201.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 200,765 shares of the company's stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 134,066 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 93.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 108,572 shares of the company's stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 52,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 125.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 43,786 shares of the company's stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 24,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.47% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting D-Wave Quantum

Here are the key news stories impacting D-Wave Quantum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sector catalyst — Nvidia unveiled open-source quantum AI models that traders say accelerate the quantum ecosystem, lifting premarket demand for pure‑play quantum stocks including D‑Wave. Quantum stocks surge as Nvidia launches new AI models
• Positive Sentiment: Broad sector rally — coverage notes back‑to‑back rallies in IonQ, D‑Wave and Rigetti, reflecting momentum flows and renewed investor interest in quantum plays. Momentum trading has amplified D‑Wave’s move. IonQ Surges 10%, D-Wave Jumps 9%, Rigetti Climbs 7% as Quantum Computing Stocks Stage Back-to-Back Rallies
• Positive Sentiment: Company fundamentals/momentum — investors are refocusing on D‑Wave’s 2025 revenue acceleration, recent post‑year‑end bookings and the completed Quantum Circuits acquisition (dual‑platform strategy), which together underpin expectations for stronger 2026 bookings. D-Wave Quantum jumps 15.9% as investors refocus on recent bookings, results, and its dual-platform push
• Positive Sentiment: Event/PR catalyst — anticipation of a CEO summit and product/strategy updates has drawn short‑term buying interest and media coverage, driving intraday volume spikes. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) Surges Nearly 13% on CEO Summit Anticipation
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry commentary — multiple outlets and analysts remain bullish on quantum’s long‑term TAM and several firms maintain positive ratings/price targets on QBTS; this supports investor conviction but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Should D-Wave’s Push Into Real-World Quantum Use Cases and 2026 Bookings Shape QBTS Investors’ View?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analysis pieces — recent commentaries assess valuation vs. execution; useful for medium‑term investors but produce mixed near‑term signals. D-Wave Quantum: Sanity Returns
• Negative Sentiment: Fundamental risks — the company previously missed EPS and revenue estimates, posts large negative margins and remains unprofitable; these fundamentals constrain valuation and raise execution risk for skeptics.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional moves — recent disclosures show substantial insider selling and large institutional portfolio reductions by some funds, which can weigh on sentiment if sustained. D-Wave Quantum jumps 15.9% as investors refocus on recent bookings, results, and its dual-platform push

D-Wave Quantum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:QBTS traded up $3.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.16. 60,355,493 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,405,994. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.49 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.46. The company has a quick ratio of 42.25, a current ratio of 42.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. D-Wave Quantum has a 52-week low of $5.97 and a 52-week high of $46.75.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 million. D-Wave Quantum had a negative return on equity of 58.58% and a negative net margin of 1,444.10%.D-Wave Quantum's revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that D-Wave Quantum will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QBTS has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $43.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Friday, March 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.50.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.