D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) Trading Up 8.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:QBTS) shot up 8.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $20.60 and last traded at $20.39. 19,461,048 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 28,779,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.80.

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 substantial upside from recent trading levels. The firm highlighted D-Wave’s commercial-revenue opportunity, providing the clearest immediate catalyst for the stock. BMO coverage article
• Positive Sentiment: NTT DOCOMO deployed a second production quantum application powered by D-Wave to improve mobile-network planning and efficiency. The deployment expands the relationship beyond pilot projects and supports the case that D-Wave’s technology is gaining real-world enterprise adoption. NTT DOCOMO deployment article
• Positive Sentiment: Demand indicators were strong: first-half bookings reportedly surged 1,120% year over year to $35.5 million, remaining performance obligations rose 668% to $40.7 million, and nearly $23 million of contracted revenue could be recognized within 12 months. Commercial customers generated 67.7% of first-half revenue, with six applications in production. D-Wave demand article
• Neutral Sentiment: Quantum-computing stocks broadly rebounded, lifting sentiment across the group, although the move was not solely company-specific. Quantum stocks article
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to flag D-Wave’s expensive valuation after its roughly 15-fold three-year gain. Investors are increasingly focused on whether bookings and deployments can translate into sustained revenue and eventual profitability. D-Wave valuation article
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded the stock from Strong Buy to Hold, while a prior broad quantum-stock selloff demonstrated the sector’s high volatility. Zacks downgrade article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QBTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of D-Wave Quantum from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of D-Wave Quantum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.27.

D-Wave Quantum Trading Up 8.5%

The firm has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.72 and a beta of 2.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 20.42 and a current ratio of 20.55.

D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) last posted its 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 0.6 compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other D-Wave Quantum news, Director Rohit Ghai sold 13,518 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total transaction of $357,010.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,724.97. The trade was a 36.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Sophie C. Ames sold 3,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 589,009 shares in the company, valued at $9,983,702.55. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,012,065 shares of company stock worth $26,245,703. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QBTS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in D-Wave Quantum during the second quarter worth $795,206,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 541.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,089,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,737,000 after acquiring an additional 10,205,427 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,394,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,085,000 after acquiring an additional 866,405 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,707,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,540,000 after acquiring an additional 385,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marex Group plc increased its position in D-Wave Quantum by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,592,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

D-Wave Quantum Company Profile

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.