Sticky inflation, elevated oil prices and rising global bond yields are shaping the market environment in May 2026. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields recently climbed above 4.6%, their highest level since early 2025, while Brent crude traded around $111 per barrel amid Middle East tensions and supply fears. Although there are signs that tensions may be partially easing through renewed U.S.-Iran diplomatic engagement and limited restoration of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, markets are not treating the situation as fully resolved.
This macro backdrop matters significantly for quantum computing investments because higher rates generally punish highly speculative, cash-burning companies more aggressively than profitable mega-cap technology firms. As a result, hyperscalers with quantum exposure currently offer a more logical short-term investment setup than pure-play quantum stocks such as IonQ IONQ, Rigetti Computing RGTI or D-Wave Quantum QBTS.
Here, we have picked two such big-tech hyperscalers, Oracle ORCL and International Business Machines IBM, which carry near-term price target potential of 30% or more while also expanding their quantum and AI infrastructure exposure.
Hyperscaler Stocks May Outperform Pure-Play Quantum Stocks in May
Hyperscalers are currently at the center of the AI and data-center spending boom that is dominating global technology investment. Apart from the two stocks already mentioned above, companies such as Microsoft and Alphabet are generating billions of dollars in recurring cash flow from cloud infrastructure, enterprise software and AI services. Quantum computing, for them, is an additional long-duration growth layer rather than a make-or-break business model. That distinction matters significantly in today’s macro environment because investors are rewarding companies that can monetize AI immediately while funding future technologies internally.
By contrast, most pure-play quantum firms that reported their first-quarter 2026 earnings in May still remain pre-profit and highly valuation-sensitive. Their stock movements are still driven primarily by partnership announcements, research milestones, government grants or speculative retail momentum rather than broad commercial adoption. Even after reporting strong revenue growth, several quantum pure plays experienced sharp volatility in the second quarter because investors remain uncertain about the timeline for scalable commercial deployment and sustainable profitability.
Another key factor is capital expenditure visibility. Major hyperscalers are projected to collectively spend more than $500 billion-$700 billion on AI and next-generation computing infrastructure in 2026, according to the latest estimates from Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg and multiple industry research firms. That spending directly has strengthened their competitive positioning in May because it expands cloud capacity, accelerates enterprise AI adoption and deepens customer lock-in. Quantum computing initiatives are increasingly being integrated into these broader cloud ecosystems through platforms such as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and IBM Quantum. As a result, hyperscalers are monetizing the infrastructure cycle today while simultaneously building long-term quantum optionality.
2 Stocks With Strong Target Price
Oracle: The company is increasingly positioning itself as a hyperscaler with growing exposure to both AI and quantum computing infrastructure. Oracle recently expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to integrate Gemini AI capabilities into Oracle Database services, strengthening its enterprise AI ecosystem. At the same time, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) continues seeing strong demand from AI-training workloads tied to OpenAI and large enterprise customers.
Oracle is also expanding quantum access through cloud-based partnerships and research integrations, allowing enterprises to experiment with quantum computing through OCI environments. Its strong recurring cash flows and rapidly scaling cloud infrastructure make Oracle a comparatively stable quantum exposure play in the near term.
This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock’s short-term price targets offered by 40 analysts represents an increase of 29.2% from the last closing price of $192.95.
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IBM: The company remains one of the strongest enterprise-focused quantum and AI infrastructure players in 2026. At its recent Think 2026 conference, IBM unveiled expanded AI orchestration and hybrid cloud initiatives through watsonx, supporting its enterprise AI strategy. The company also continues advancing commercial quantum computing through Quantum System Two deployments and quantum-centric supercomputing research. Unlike pure-play quantum stocks that still depend heavily on future commercialization, IBM benefits from diversified revenue streams across consulting, software, mainframes and cloud services.
This Zacks Rank #3 stock’s short-term price target offered by 20 analysts represents an increase of 33.8% from the last closing price of $219.30. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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International Business Machines Corporation (IBM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Oracle Corporation (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
IonQ, Inc. (IONQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI): Free Stock Analysis Report
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).