Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Down 3.8% – Time to Sell?

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares dropped 3.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $16.69 and last traded at $16.78. Approximately 18,998,025 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 33,434,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.45.

Rigetti Computing News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Rigetti Computing this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue rose 185.3% year over year to $5.14 million, slightly exceeding the approximately $5.09 million consensus estimate. Growth was attributed to shipments of Rigetti’s Novera quantum systems and a broader shift toward commercial revenue. Rigetti Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Costs, Revenue Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Investors responded favorably to reports that major quantum-computing orders and Novera shipments are accelerating Rigetti’s commercial mix. The company also highlighted progress on its technology roadmap and improved quantum-fidelity performance. Rigetti Stock Rises as Major Quantum Orders Fuel Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $40 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Rigetti ended June with $541.3 million in cash and no debt, providing funding flexibility for research and expansion. Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: A $5 million National Science Foundation-backed hybrid quantum-classical testbed with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center is scheduled to begin construction in September, reinforcing Rigetti’s government and enterprise relationships. Rigetti Expands Hybrid Quantum HPC Push With New NSF Project
• Neutral Sentiment: Rigetti reported an adjusted loss of $0.05 per share. This matched some consensus estimates but missed the Zacks estimate of a $0.03 loss, creating a mixed earnings signal. Rigetti Reports Q2 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Higher research-and-development and selling, general, and administrative expenses widened losses and continue to weigh on profitability. Analysts also continue to forecast a full-year loss, limiting the stock’s fundamental support.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RGTI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, July 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rigetti Computing has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

Rigetti Computing Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.62 and a beta of 1.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.43 and its 200-day moving average is $18.06.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $5.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 2,789.71% and a negative return on equity of 10.40%. Equities research analysts expect that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rigetti Computing

In related news, Director Ray O. Johnson sold 122,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.30, for a total transaction of $2,602,604.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 171,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,648,114.90. This represents a 41.64% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CTO David Rivas sold 499,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $12,682,931.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 325,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,279,003. This represents a 60.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 728,901 shares of company stock valued at $17,546,343 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGTI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rigetti Computing by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,970,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,750,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924,171 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Rigetti Computing by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,853,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,997,000 after purchasing an additional 946,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,879,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 196,891 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Rigetti Computing by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,081,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,788,000 after buying an additional 1,467,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,846,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,785,000 after buying an additional 397,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.