D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) Trading Down 2.7% – Here’s What Happened

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:QBTS)’s stock price was down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $18.44 and last traded at $18.80. 11,687,213 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 28,852,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.32.

D-Wave Quantum News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $35 price target, implying roughly 85%–86% upside from recent levels. The firm highlighted D-Wave’s commercial revenue potential, providing a significant catalyst for the stock. D-Wave Quantum Stock Climbs as BMO Turns Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: NTT DOCOMO deployed a second production application powered by D-Wave to improve mobile-network planning and efficiency. The deployment expands the relationship beyond pilot projects and offers evidence that D-Wave’s technology is being used in commercial telecom operations. D-Wave Lands Second Production Telecom Application
• Positive Sentiment: D-Wave’s order and contracted-revenue indicators remain strong. First-half bookings reportedly surged 1,120% year over year to $35.5 million, while remaining performance obligations rose 668% to $40.7 million. Nearly $23 million of contracted revenue could be recognized within 12 months, and commercial customers generated 67.7% of first-half revenue. D-Wave: Demand Is Outrunning Revenue
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary are increasingly focused on whether D-Wave can convert customer interest, bookings and production applications into sustained revenue and eventual profitability. Some quantum stocks continue to attract attention for their growth prospects despite a tougher market. Quantum Stocks Face Reality Check
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a concern. After approximately a 15-fold three-year gain, D-Wave screens as expensive on valuation measures, raising the risk that substantial future progress is already reflected in the share price. D-Wave Quantum Stock Looks Expensive
• Negative Sentiment: Quantum-computing stocks have recently faced broad sector selling, while Zacks Research downgraded D-Wave from “Strong Buy” to “Hold.” These factors could limit gains even as company-specific news improves sentiment. Quantum Stock Selloff

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on QBTS. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of D-Wave Quantum from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research lowered D-Wave Quantum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.27.

D-Wave Quantum Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 20.42 and a current ratio of 20.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.24. The company has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of -28.72 and a beta of 2.15.

D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 million. D-Wave Quantum had a negative return on equity of 26.67% and a negative net margin of 2,001.59%.D-Wave Quantum’s quarterly revenue was down 0.6 compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at D-Wave Quantum

In other D-Wave Quantum news, Director John D. Dilullo sold 7,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total transaction of $191,775.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,310 shares in the company, valued at $520,603.30. This represents a 26.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John M. Markovich sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $5,142,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,142,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,381,902.20. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,012,065 shares of company stock worth $26,245,703 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of QBTS. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in D-Wave Quantum by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 27,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in D-Wave Quantum by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 131,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,447,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in D-Wave Quantum by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 92,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.47% of the company’s stock.

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.