D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) has delivered a 24% gain over the past year, but shares have also fallen by an equivalent margin on a year-to-date basis.
The stock dropped 9% on August 6 after the company reported its second quarter earnings, drawing commentary from CNBC’s Jim Cramer about what the move signals.
Cramer suggested the selloff may reflect a broader shift in how investors are approaching speculative technology names with limited near-term revenue traction.
“What’s incredible is that we never cared about earnings before, for this, for NuScale. And suddenly we care, I don’t get it,” Cramer said on air.
He added: “I just think again, once again, there’s kind of a realism sinking in. Let’s, a lot of these guys have had such big moves. They’re not based on anything.”
Cramer concluded: “I think the Situational mindset is going to be with us for a long time,” indicating he expects continued scrutiny of momentum-driven stocks.
Despite the share price decline, D-Wave’s second quarter results contained several figures that support a more optimistic outlook for the company.
First-half 2026 bookings surged by 1,120% to $35.5 million, driven by purchase and enterprise agreements with Florida University and a Fortune 100 company.
Commercial customers accounted for 62% of second quarter revenue of $3.1 million, while remaining performance obligations jumped 668%, pointing to a growing backlog of contracted work.
However, second quarter revenue dipped 0.6% year-over-year, and first quarter revenue had already fallen 81% to $2.9 million, largely due to revenue recognition procedures.
The company’s EBITDA loss widened significantly to $37 million from $20 million, while first-half operating expenses more than doubled to $111.5 million from $53.6 million in the prior-year period.
The divergence between surging bookings and flat revenue raises a central concern: that signed agreements are not yet converting into recognized sales at a meaningful pace.
Aggressive spending on operations, research and development, and acquisitions could create further headwinds if bookings-to-revenue conversion does not improve materially in coming quarters.
On valuation, QBTS carries a price-to-sales ratio of 610.97, a figure that leaves almost no margin for error and compares to rival Rigetti’s already elevated P/S ratio of 465.
Short interest in QBTS stood at 19.98% of float as of the end of July, mirroring the bearish positioning seen in Rigetti, where approximately 19% of the float is also sold short.
Institutional interest has nonetheless grown, with the number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey holding a stake in QBTS rising from 22 in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 26 in the first quarter of 2026.
The picture that emerges is of a company with genuine commercial momentum, a swelling cost base, and a valuation that demands consistent execution to justify current price levels.
