How Does D-Wave Stack Up to Quantum Rivals After Earnings Season?

Key Points

• D-Wave Quantum shares have declined over the last month, despite a fairly strong earnings report.
• This is in line with recent declines among rivals such as IonQ and Rigetti Computing, all of which are struggling to achieve profitability.
• There are signs the niche quantum industry may continue to see a pullback, which would leave legacy tech companies like IBM with a crucial advantage as the technology needs time to mature and develop.

Shares of quantum computing firm D-Wave Quantum Inc. NYSE: QBTS seem to be cooling, despite a third-quarter earnings report that was notably strong on multiple fronts. The stock has plunged by more than 38% in the last month, essentially reversing all gains achieved since mid-September 2025. The latest decline brings D-Wave's rally down to "only" 146% year-to-date (YTD)—the firm has still vastly outperformed the large majority of the market in 2025.

One likely reason for investors' disappointment in D-Wave post-earnings, despite the firm doubling its revenue in a year and achieving other key benchmarks, is that they feel the company has yet to demonstrate that its quantum technology is both vital to the average user and broadly marketable.

But is this a significant problem if other companies in the quantum computing space have also failed to achieve these goals? Rivals like Rigetti Computing NASDAQ: RGTI and IonQ Inc. NYSE: IONQ likewise experienced cratering share prices in the last several weeks.

Each of these firms may face additional challenging terrain in the coming quarters. In the near term, this may prove to be an even greater challenge for the industry than these stocks pose to one another as competitors.

Comparing D-Wave and IonQ Post-Earnings

D-Wave's revenue growth for the latest quarter, though significant, failed to match that of its larger peer, IonQ. The latter firm's sales more than tripled year-over-year (YOY) in the latest period, reaching almost $40 million—IonQ's revenue is thus over an order of magnitude larger than D-Wave's and is accelerating at a faster pace. To top it off, IonQ has secured major contracts, including a partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and has achieved significant technical milestones in recent months.

Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their ratings of IonQ following the company's earnings highlights and optimistic guidance. However, the company's losses per share came in much wider than expected, and it too faces persistent questions about its profitability potential.

Sizing Up D-Wave Next to Rigetti

Rigetti's third-quarter earnings were not as rosy as those of some its competitors. In one bright spot, losses per share came in narrower than analysts had predicted. However, this was offset by YOY declines in revenue and gross margin as operating losses actually widened. It's no surprise, then, that Rigetti experienced the sharpest stock price drop of these three firms in the past month, with shares shedding about 45% of their value during that time.

That said, investors should not dismiss Rigetti entirely when considering quantum stocks. The firm has an ambitious technology development timeline that could enable it to achieve a 1,000+ qubit system and gain a significant advantage by late 2027.

The firm's balance sheet remains strong, with cash and similar investments totaling nearly $600 million at the end of the third quarter.

The Greater Concern: A Massive Industry-Wide Pullback

Investors comparing these niche quantum computing firms may find reasons to favor one over the other based on their focus—those interested in pure revenue performance might prefer IonQ, while those valuing the flexibility a strong cash balance offers might choose D-Wave, for example.

However, a bigger concern may be whether the quantum industry as a whole is significantly overvalued relative to what it currently provides to users. Undoubtedly, there is tremendous hype surrounding quantum—it may even be bigger based on share price boosts in the last year or so alone than AI—but no company has yet been able to crack the code on delivering affordable, easily marketable quantum products or services.

Even more troubling for short-term share performance is the fact that none of these firms have successfully convinced a broader public that quantum technology is right now capable of addressing their everyday business and organizational problems.

While companies continue to sort out the technology and determine the best approach to this case, investors will likely lose patience, and their stocks will struggle to maintain their rallies. This could give a crucial advantage to legacy tech firms with quantum operations, such as IBM Corp. NYSE: IBM, that aren't entirely reliant on the success of quantum to remain viable.

Stock performance like this would test the resolve of buy-and-hold investors for the firms above.