Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on Rigetti Computing from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Monday, July 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rigetti Computing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

Shares of RGTI opened at $16.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 1.99. Rigetti Computing has a one year low of $12.53 and a one year high of $58.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.73.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). Rigetti Computing had a negative return on equity of 17.50% and a negative net margin of 2,189.54%.The business had revenue of $5.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rigetti Computing will post -0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rigetti Computing

In other Rigetti Computing news, CTO Andrew Joseph Bestwick sold 5,791 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $97,346.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,036,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,417,194.01. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 3,860 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.89, for a total value of $65,195.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,838,651.63. This trade represents a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 725,149 shares of company stock valued at $17,345,425. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 106.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after buying an additional 113,644 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 138.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 81,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 47,115 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 112,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 22,770 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Rigetti Computing by 197.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 16,998 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.38% of the company’s stock.

Key Rigetti Computing News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rigetti reported strong second-quarter revenue growth to $5.14 million from $1.80 million a year earlier. The company also highlighted a U.S. Department of Commerce letter of intent for up to $100 million in quantum R&D support and commercial system deliveries involving partners including Nvidia and HPE. Did Quantum Revenue Surge And US$100 Million R&D Backing Just Shift Rigetti Computing’s Investment Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: The company created a dedicated Systems Delivery organization to support growing demand for on-premises quantum systems. David Rivas became chief operating officer, while Andrew Bestwick was appointed chief technology officer to focus on chip development and hardware engineering. Rigetti said the structure should improve customer deployments and help advance its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity for its Cepheus-1-108Q system. Rigetti Computing Establishes Dedicated Systems Delivery Organization
• Neutral Sentiment: Board member Dr. Ray Johnson announced an upcoming resignation, adding to investor focus on governance and management changes. The available report does not indicate that the resignation reflects a change in business strategy. Rigetti Computing Announces Upcoming Board Member Resignation
• Negative Sentiment: Rigetti shares declined along with other quantum-computing stocks, including IonQ and D-Wave, in a broad sector selloff. The report cited no specific company news driving the industry-wide move, suggesting risk reduction across a volatile category. Quantum Stock Selloff
• Negative Sentiment: The reorganization was interpreted by some investors as a leadership shake-up, particularly because it separates systems delivery from chip development. Although management described the changes as an effort to improve execution, investors may remain concerned about transition risk and the company’s ability to meet technology and deployment milestones. Rigetti Shares Plunge After Major Leadership Shake-Up
• Negative Sentiment: CTO Andrew Bestwick, COO David Rivas, and CFO Jeffrey Bertelsen sold shares to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards. The transactions were relatively small portions of their remaining holdings, but the absence of reported insider purchases adds to a cautious sentiment around RGTI.

About Rigetti Computing

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.