Rigetti Computing RGTI exited first-quarter 2026 with strong top-line momentum, driven by growing demand for its quantum computing systems and continued execution on its commercialization strategy. Revenues surged nearly 199% year over year to $4.4 million, primarily fueled by on-premises Novera QPU deliveries, related contracts and government-backed research projects.
Rigetti’s expanding cloud presence was another key highlight, as its newly launched 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system became generally available on Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services, Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure Quantum and qBraid. Management believes Cepheus-1-108Q is currently one of the most powerful generally available gate-based quantum computers in the market, strengthening Rigetti’s positioning in the rapidly evolving quantum computing landscape.
The quarter also reflected meaningful progress on Rigetti’s technology roadmap toward achieving quantum advantage over the next three years. The company highlighted improving fidelities, faster gate speeds and continued advancements in its proprietary chiplet-based scaling architecture. Rigetti achieved approximately 99.1% median two-qubit gate fidelity on the 108-qubit system while prototype systems demonstrated fidelities as high as 99.9% with faster gate speeds, signaling further room for performance improvement.
Management also emphasized growing customer engagement for Novera QPUs and system-level contracts, including the previously announced $8.4 million C-DAC order in India, which is expected to contribute revenues later this year. Backed by a strong cash balance of nearly $569 million and no debt, Rigetti remains well-positioned to continue investing aggressively in R&D, infrastructure and global expansion initiatives, including its planned $100 million investment in the United Kingdom.
Peers Updates
D-Wave Quantum QBTS has also been making aggressive moves to strengthen its commercial quantum computing positioning, although its first-quarter 2026 results reflected a mixed picture. Revenues declined nearly 81% year over year to $2.9 million due to the absence of a large system sale recorded in the year-ago period. However, bookings surged almost 2,000% to $33.4 million, driven by a $20 million system purchase from Florida Atlantic University and a multiyear enterprise agreement with a Fortune 100 customer.
D-Wave also continued expanding its technology capabilities following the acquisition of Quantum Circuits, which broadens its presence into gate-model quantum systems alongside its core annealing platform. The company remains focused on scaling commercial adoption and advancing error-corrected quantum systems, though rising operating expenses and margin pressure remain near-term concerns.
IonQ IONQ continues to strengthen its leadership position in the quantum computing space. In first-quarter 2026, revenues surged 755% year over year to $64.7 million, driven by accelerating system sales, rising cloud utilization and contributions from recent acquisitions. The company also reported a sharp increase in backlog and remaining performance obligations, reflecting growing enterprise and government demand for its quantum computing and networking solutions.
IonQ recently secured its first 256-qubit system sale and remains on track to demonstrate its next-generation 256-qubit quantum computer later this year. Despite rising operating expenses linked to expansion efforts, IonQ’s improving commercial traction and raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance underscore solid momentum in the rapidly evolving quantum computing market.
Rigetti’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of RGTI have plunged 13% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s decline of 14.3%.
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From a valuation standpoint, Rigetti trades at a price-to-book ratio of 11.72, above the industry average. RGTI carries a Value Score of F.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Rigetti’s 2026 earnings implies a significant 74.3% improvement from the year-ago period.
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The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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