D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) Trading Up 8.7% – Here’s What Happened

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:QBTS) shares traded up 8.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $17.88 and last traded at $17.69. 21,365,960 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 27,493,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.27.

Key D-Wave Quantum News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Quantum-computing stocks attracted broad investor buying after IonQ and NVIDIA reported progress in reducing quantum-circuit compilation times. D-Wave benefited as investors treated the sector as a momentum trade rather than focusing solely on near-term fundamentals. IonQ Climbs 9% on Quantum Optimization Work With NVIDIA; D-Wave Rises 8%, Rigetti Gains 7%
• Positive Sentiment: D-Wave’s planned Qubits Asia 2026 conference in Seoul will showcase customer applications and the company’s growing Asia-Pacific presence. The event may support investor optimism about commercial adoption, although it does not immediately change financial results. D-Wave to Host Qubits Asia 2026 Quantum Computing User Conference in Seoul
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recently finalized agreement providing access to up to $100 million under the CHIPS and Science Act remains a longer-term catalyst. The funding is intended to advance large-scale annealing and gate-model systems, including planned 100,000-qubit and 10,000-qubit platforms.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity is mixed: 356 investors added QBTS shares in the latest reporting period, while 236 reduced positions. Large additions by Norges Bank, BlackRock and JPMorgan contrast with sizable reductions by other funds, offering no clear consensus signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check said it is investigating potential federal-securities-law violations on behalf of investors who suffered losses. The announcement follows a similar investigation by Pomerantz; neither notice establishes wrongdoing by D-Wave. Kessler Topaz investor investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also point to CFO John Markovich’s exit and the ongoing legal probes, increasing uncertainty around management continuity and potential disclosure issues. What Is D Wave Quantum Facing After CFO Exit And Legal Probes?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider trading data shows no reported insider purchases and 15 sales over the past six months, including sales by the CEO and CFO. Heavy insider selling can weigh on sentiment, even though sales may reflect compensation or personal financial planning.
• Negative Sentiment: D-Wave remains financially unprofitable, recently missing revenue and EPS expectations. Against that backdrop, its roughly $6.3 billion market capitalization and negative earnings leave QBTS vulnerable to profit-taking when speculative enthusiasm fades.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on QBTS. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $35.00 price target on D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of D-Wave Quantum from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, D-Wave Quantum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.27.

D-Wave Quantum Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.10 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a current ratio of 20.55, a quick ratio of 20.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.26 and a 200-day moving average of $19.91.

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

Insider Transactions at D-Wave Quantum

In other D-Wave Quantum news, VP Sophie Ames sold 3,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total transaction of $52,036.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 589,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,983,702.55. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of D-Wave Quantum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in D-Wave Quantum in the second quarter valued at $795,206,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,394,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,085,000 after buying an additional 866,405 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum in the second quarter worth about $104,183,000. Clear Street Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. now owns 4,281,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,955,000 after buying an additional 1,232,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,548,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.47% of the company’s stock.

D-Wave Quantum Company Profile

D-Wave Quantum Inc develops quantum computing systems, software, and services for commercial, government, and research customers. The company is best known for its quantum annealing technology, which is designed to help solve complex optimization problems involving areas such as logistics, scheduling, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and financial modeling.

D-Wave also develops gate-model quantum computing technology and provides access to its systems through cloud-based services, including the Leap quantum application environment.