D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) Shares Up 6.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) shares shot up 6.5% on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $18.02 and last traded at $17.81. 16,313,089 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 30,640,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.72.

QBTS has been the topic of several other research reports. Northland Securities initiated coverage on D-Wave Quantum in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on D-Wave Quantum from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on D-Wave Quantum from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sophie C. Ames sold 23,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total value of $437,014.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 596,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,327,320.94. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Alan E. Baratz sold 687,627 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $17,967,693.51. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,299,771 shares in the company, valued at $86,223,016.23. This represents a 17.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,360,772 shares of company stock worth $35,737,111. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of D-Wave Quantum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in D-Wave Quantum by 388.0% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 976 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in D-Wave Quantum by 545.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PeakShares LLC acquired a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 267.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. 42.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

D-Wave Quantum Trading Down 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 21.41 and a quick ratio of 21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.41.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 million. D-Wave Quantum had a negative net margin of 2,957.23% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%. D-Wave Quantum’s revenue for the quarter was down 80.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.