During the first quarter, Quantum Computing QUBT or “QCi” made several significant operational progress, which further strengthened its long-term growth roadmap.
During the first quarter, QCi completed the acquisition of Luminar Semiconductor, Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $110 million. LSI manufactures and sells a portfolio of photonic components and brings established capabilities in lasers, detectors, advanced packaging and manufacturing, complementing QCi’s position in thin film lithium niobate (“TFLN”) integrated photonics.
QCi also completed the acquisition of NuCrypt, LLC, a quantum communications technology company, in a transaction valued at $5 million. By integrating NuCrypt’s suite of quantum communications systems and products, QCi expects to advance its technology roadmap while extending its portfolio of quantum communications and quantum photonics solutions.
QCi announced the placement of a QCi Dirac-3 quantum optimization machine on Quantum Corridor’s network, a multi-state quantum-safe commercial communication network in North America. The partnership with Quantum Corridor will allow for enhanced, secure and on-demand Dirac-3 access for institutions and commercial customers on Quantum Corridor’s network.
QCi’s Fab 1 facility, which is currently dedicated to research, development and prototyping, has been ramping up small-batch manufacturing and is beginning to generate revenues.
Peer Update
Rigetti RGTI continued to demonstrate progress in gate performance across its superconducting quantum platforms during the first quarter. RGTI achieved a median 99.8% two-qubit gate fidelity with 40-nanosecond gate speeds on its 9-qubit system by using a proprietary adiabatic CZ gate scheme.
Throughout the quarter, Rigetti continued to improve system-level performance through refinements across the stack, including innovations in materials and fabrication techniques and upgraded control electronics. It continued its collaboration with ecosystem partners, including Riverlane, to advance error mitigation and error correction research on Rigetti’s superconducting quantum systems.
During the first quarter, IonQ IONQ was awarded a $39 million contract to advance next-generation tactical space communications under the Space Development Agency’s (“SDA”) HALO Program, paving the way for mission-ready, quantum-space systems in national security.
IonQ signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with KISTI to explore the advancement of hybrid quantum-HPC technologies incorporating NVIDIA-accelerated computing, representing a powerful convergence of quantum computing, AI and classical supercomputing. The company also sold its first sixth-generation, chip-based 256-qubit system to the University of Cambridge. The agreement is anchored by a secure quantum network and a broad intellectual property (IP) generation partnership spanning quantum computing, networking, sensing and security.
QUBT’s Stock Price Performance
Over the past year, QCi’s shares have plunged 30.6% compared with the industry’s 16.4% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
QUBT’s Expensive Valuation
QUBT currently trades at a forward 12-month Price-to-Sales (P/S) of 84.56X compared with the industry median of 4.97X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
QUBT Stock Estimate Trend
In the past 30 days, QCi’s loss per share estimate for 2026 has moved north to 14 cents.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
QUBT currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT): Free Stock Analysis Report
IonQ, Inc. (IONQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).