Shares in the five most prominent quantum computing companies are rising today despite a larger market pullback. The stock price jump in the companies controlling the nascent technology comes after three of the companies secured hundreds of millions in funding from the US government. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s happened?
Today, three of America’s most prominent publicly traded quantum computing companies—Rigetti Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (Nasdaq: QBTS), and Quantinuum (Nasdaq: QNT)—are seeing their stock prices surge along with two other players in the market, Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT) and IonQ (NYSE: IONQ).
Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantinuum all announced finalized agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office for $100 million in government funding in order to advance quantum computing technology.
Under the deal, each of the three companies will receive $100 million, distributed through a $2 billion initiative under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, which the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced in May.
As part of their deal, D-Wave and Rigetti confirmed that the U.S. Department of Commerce “will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake” in the companies. Quantinuum did not reveal whether the Commerce Department will receive a stake.
Fast Company has reached out to Quantinuum for comment.
Why is the US government investing in quantum computing companies?
While artificial intelligence is all the rage right now, the next frontier in computing is quantum computing. The technology has the potential to revolutionize computing and communications and may also render traditional security measures, such as classical encryption, obsolete.
That’s why governments believe quantum computing may affect not only the economy, but also national security. Currently, governments around the world are providing incentives to quantum computing companies to develop the technology, hoping to become the dominant player in the space before their adversaries.
“Quantum computing has significant implications for national defense, advanced materials and biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling, and energy systems,” the NIST wrote in May, when it unveiled its plans to invest $2 billion in companies working on the technology. “A strong domestic quantum ecosystem is essential for U.S. national security, technological resilience and long-term strategic leadership.”
How are quantum computing stocks reacting to the news?
Quite well. Despite the broader markets being down today, quantum stocks are surging as of this writing. This is not only true of the three companies that are receiving $100 million in funding, but also the quantum computing firms that are not.
Frequently, when one quantum computing company announces something positive for the nascent industry, it lifts the stock prices of other players in the industry too.
As of the time of this writing, here’s how the five most prominent quantum computing companies are performing:
- Rigetti: up 7.8%
- D-Wave: up 8.6%
- Quantinuum: up 3.2%
- Quantum Computing Inc: up 5.3%
- IonQ: up 8.5%
In addition to the quantum funding news today for D-Wave, Rigetti, and Quantinuum, IonQ separately announced that it was increasing its full-year fiscal 2026 outlook to between $450 million and $460 million, an increase of about $200 million.
This higher forecast is mainly due to its successful acquisition of SkyWater Technology, which will help IonQ expand its manufacturing capabilities.