Rigetti Computing RGTI reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss per share of 4 cents, narrower than the loss per share of 8 cents in the prior-year quarter. The metric also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings by 20%.
GAAP loss per share in the reported quarter was 6 cents against the earnings per share of 13 cents in the prior-year quarter.
Shares of this company gained nearly 8.3% in yesterday’s trading session.
Rigetti’s Revenue Details
The company reported total revenues of $4.4 million, up 198.9% year over year. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 35.6%.
Rigetti’s first-quarter 2026 revenues were driven primarily by higher sales of its on-premises Novera quantum systems and broader customer adoption across academic, government and research institutions. The commercial rollout of its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system across major cloud platforms also supported top-line growth.
RGTI’s Margin Trend
In the quarter under review, RGTI’s gross profit improved 211.8% year over year to $1.4 million. The gross margin expanded 130 basis points to 31.3%.
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 11.4% year over year to $7.4 million. Research and development expenses increased 29.1% year over year to $19.9 million. Total operating expenses of $27.3 million increased 23.8% year over year.
Operating loss for the quarter under review totaled $25.9 million compared with $21.6 million in the prior-year quarter.
RGTI’s Financial Position
RGTI exited the first quarter of 2026 with cash, cash equivalents and short-term available-for-sale investments of $418.2 million compared with $443.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025.
The company ended the quarter with no debts on its balance sheet.
Net cash used in operating activities at the end of the first quarter was $16.2 million compared with $13.7 million a year ago.
Rigetti Computing, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Rigetti Computing, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Rigetti Computing, Inc. Quote
Our Take
Rigetti exited first-quarter 2026 with strong results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Solid year-over-year revenue growth, driven by the rising adoption of its on-premises quantum systems and broader customer traction across academic, government and commercial markets, was encouraging. The company also benefited from the continued commercialization of its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q platform and maintained a robust liquidity position. However, elevated operating expenses and persistent operating losses continue to reflect the high-cost nature of scaling quantum computing infrastructure.
During the quarter, Rigetti made notable progress across both its technology roadmap and commercialization efforts. The company launched general availability of its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system across Rigetti QCS, Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure Quantum and qBraid, further validating its chiplet-based modular architecture. Rigetti also advanced deliveries of its Novera on-premises systems, including a deployment to the University of Saskatchewan, highlighting growing institutional demand for direct quantum hardware access.
On the technology front, the company achieved median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.8% with 40-nanosecond gate speeds and up to 99.9% fidelity on prototype systems using its proprietary adiabatic CZ gate scheme. Continued collaboration with Riverlane on error mitigation and correction research, along with plans to invest up to $100 million in the United Kingdom toward a future 1,000+ qubit system, reinforces Rigetti’s long-term ambition to scale toward practical quantum advantage.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
RGTI carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. WST, Intuitive Surgical ISRG and Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH.
West Pharmaceutical reported first-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26.8%. Revenues of $844.9 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.5%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
West Pharmaceutical has a long-term estimated growth rate of 13.9%. WST’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 19.37%.
Intuitive Surgical reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.50, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.19%. Revenues of $2.77 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy).
Intuitive Surgical has a long-term estimated growth rate of 14.9%. ISRG’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.82%.
Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $3.17, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.2%. Revenues of $60.94 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.3%.
Cardinal Health has a long-term estimated growth rate of 15.6%. CAH’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10.27%.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).