Investor sentiment toward quantum computing stocks is at a crossroads as the second half of 2026 gets underway, with elevated interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty keeping markets cautious.
Despite continued technological progress and rising government support for quantum research, pure-play quantum companies have struggled to regain meaningful momentum throughout the year.
Two of the sector’s most closely watched names, D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), are competing fiercely for investor attention heading into the back half of the year.
Both stocks have retreated in 2026, with QBTS down 16.3% and RGTI declining 16.9% year to date, reflecting the broader technology selloff and ongoing macro pressures.
Sentiment across the quantum sector softened further following a scientific debate over Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) topological-qubit research, even though the controversy does not directly involve either company.
D-Wave enters the second half of 2026 with perhaps the strongest commercial execution among publicly traded quantum companies, having exited the first quarter with record bookings and a growing enterprise pipeline.
The company’s acquisition of Quantum Circuits broadens its technology portfolio beyond quantum annealing into gate-model computing, positioning D-Wave to address a wider range of future workloads across manufacturing, logistics, financial services and government applications.
D-Wave continues expanding its Advantage2 platform and cloud offerings through strategic partnerships, though management has indicated revenues will remain uneven due to the timing of large customer contracts.
Rigetti, meanwhile, launched the general availability of its 108-qubit Cepheus-1 system across Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services, Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure Quantum and qBraid during the first quarter, achieving nearly 199% year-over-year revenue growth driven by Novera system deliveries and government projects.
Rigetti reaffirmed its objective of achieving quantum advantage in roughly three years through higher qubit counts, improved fidelities and continued investment in chiplet-based scaling, signaling long-term ambition in the superconducting hardware space.
For the remainder of 2026, key milestones to watch for Rigetti include continued improvements in Cepheus-1 fidelity, additional Novera deployments and execution of the C-DAC contract scheduled for fourth-quarter revenue recognition.
Analysts have grown cautious on D-Wave’s near-term earnings outlook, reflecting uncertainty surrounding the timing of large commercial contracts, while Rigetti has experienced downward estimate revisions to a lesser extent.
Although Rigetti’s 2026 earnings estimate revisions have been relatively more stable than D-Wave’s in recent months, D-Wave’s stronger commercial traction and expanding customer base give it the edge in the near term.
D-Wave currently holds a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold), making it the relatively more attractive choice at present, while Rigetti’s Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) suggests investors may benefit from waiting for stronger earnings momentum before taking fresh positions.
Rigetti remains a compelling long-term technology story, but D-Wave’s earlier-stage revenue generation and commercial execution make it the more defensible quantum bet for the second half of 2026.
