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QBTS.NYSE
D-Wave Quantum
Information Technology · Electronic Equipment & Instruments

Quantum computing company commercializing annealing and gate-model quantum systems, software, and enterprise quantum applications.

HQ: United StatesListed: United States

AI Opinions

Compare independent AI Advisor forecasts, ratings, scenarios, risks, configurations, sources, and step-by-step prediction paths for D-Wave Quantum.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS.NYSE) AI OPINIONS & ADVISOR ANALYSIS

Read the selected AI Advisor’s complete report, scenarios and forecast. Select Consensus for its investment thesis and a preview of advisor weights. Eligible access unlocks all 14 advisor reports and comparisons.

Updated on 5 October 2026Deep analysis 21 September 2026

25 min readAudit All Past Forecasts
AI Researcher
Universal Investor AI advisor icon
Opus 5

Universal Investor AI

The Polymath Framework

Price-adjusted rating

Partial Sell

5-Year Return Est.

-13.6%

QBTS.NYSE does not currently pay dividends

Historical prices and published forecast

Historical prices and published forecastObserved prices and the selected advisor's published projection share a split-adjusted price basis. Prices after the forecast start are later observations, not information known at publication. Forecasts are uncertain. Values in USD.-3.838.9621.7534.5347.32Sep 2021Mar 2024Sep 2026Mar 2029Sep 2031Forecast starts
  • Observed price
  • Published advisor forecast
Observed prices and the selected advisor's published projection share a split-adjusted price basis. Prices after the forecast start are later observations, not information known at publication. Forecasts are uncertain. Values in USD.
Quarterly Events ForecastPrice targets, total returns and complete scenario reasoning

Forecast prices in USD. Returns are cumulative from the forecast anchor. Swipe horizontally to read every column.

QuarterForecastTotal returnScenario
$15.74-8.0%

November's Q3 print tests the Q4-loaded guidance; expect soft revenue and a wider EBITDA loss. Commerce's registered 7.1m-share block overhangs the tape while five-percent ten-year yields compress long-duration valuations.

$17.32+1.2%

The fiscal-2026 filing lands. Partial recognition of one or two annealing systems produces the year's largest revenue print, triggering a relief rally in a sector starved of hard delivery evidence despite widening losses.

$15.58-8.9%

Relief fades as Q1 2027 reverts to a three-to-four-million-dollar quarter and ATM issuance against the January 2026 shelf becomes visible in filings. Flat sequential RPO confirms the order book has not broadened.

$17.45+2.0%

The 49-qubit gate-model milestone and its claimed twenty-fold error reduction dominate news flow. Demonstration headlines re-rate this stock faster than financials justify; reflexive momentum flows return on roadmap credibility rather than cash generation.

$16.06-6.2%

Year-end reality check: burn near USD 45m quarterly, goodwill testing on Quantum Circuits, and a second consecutive year of sub-forty-million revenue against a multi-billion capitalisation. Institutional patience thins into tax-loss season.

$15.25-10.8%

Fiscal-2027 results confirm revenue growth without operating leverage. A follow-on equity raise funding the 2029 annealing scale-up dilutes existing holders and caps any post-milestone rally before it establishes itself.

$16.48-3.7%

System deliveries begin establishing cadence; two shipments booked for the year restore partial confidence in the twenty-to-forty-million capital-equipment model, lifting forward-sales multiples modestly as commercial customer mix improves further.

$15.49-9.5%

The 175-physical-qubit error-correction target for end-2028 looks tight against published progress. Pre-announcement de-risking, plus a still-restrictive rate regime, pressures a stock with no earnings anchor to defend.

$14.40-15.8%

Competitive symmetry bites. IBM's Albany fabrication and a well-capitalised Quantinuum advance faster on gate-model error correction, narrowing D-Wave's differentiation and compressing the premium investors pay for dual-platform optionality.

$15.27-10.8%

Fiscal-2028 revenue steps meaningfully higher on multiple system sales plus CHIPS milestone recognition. The market rewards evidence of repeatable hardware demand even as operating losses persist and share count keeps climbing.

$14.50-15.2%

A mid-year capital raise to finance the 20,000-qubit interconnect programme reminds holders that every roadmap step is equity-funded. Per-share progress lags enterprise-value progress, and the stock digests the issuance.

$15.52-9.3%

The targeted 20,000-qubit annealing milestone arrives near schedule via multi-chip interconnect. Delivery against a published, dated roadmap is the strongest available credibility signal and briefly expands the forward multiple.

$14.59-14.7%

Post-milestone drift. With revenue still far below sell-side 2029 assumptions and cumulative dilution now material, investors reprice the gap between engineering achievement and shareholder economics into year-end.

$14.00-18.2%

Fiscal-2029 results show revenue well short of the roughly two-hundred-million consensus path. The shortfall forces model resets across the sell side, compressing the sales multiple further despite genuine commercial progress.

$14.70-14.1%

Defence and national-laboratory procurement broadens the customer base beyond universities, lifting bookings visibility. An easing rate cycle, if underway by then, modestly relieves discount-rate pressure on long-duration technology equities.

$13.97-18.4%

The ten-logical-qubit gate-model target for 2030 dominates attention; partial or delayed delivery disappoints holders who paid for error-corrected computing rather than optimisation annealers. Expectations reset downward.

$14.53-15.1%

Year-end guidance frames a multi-system 2031 order book and improving gross margin on hardware mix. Modest recovery as the company approaches recognisable capital-equipment economics rather than pure research-stage losses.

$13.80-19.3%

Fiscal-2030 results still show substantial cash burn and a share count materially above 2026 levels. The arithmetic of dilution, not the technology, drives the de-rating in this window.

$14.22-16.9%

Progress toward the 100,000-qubit annealing target and steadier commercial revenue stabilise sentiment. The equity trades on a defensible mid-teens forward-sales multiple rather than pure narrative extrapolation.

$13.65-20.2%

Horizon close: the 100-logical-qubit payoff sits in 2032, beyond this window. Investors discount remaining optionality more harshly as the funding requirement for the final scale-up becomes explicit.

1. Investment Thesis — Base Case

The tension is simple and unresolved: D-Wave will almost certainly survive, and its shares can still fall hard. Cash of USD 546.2m and a 0.05 debt-to-equity ratio remove solvency from the debate, while the CHIPS agreement subsidises part of the roadmap. But this is lumpy capital-equipment revenue dressed as a growth curve — H1 2026 fell 67% to USD 5.9m — priced near 500x trailing sales. The base case has revenue compounding toward nine figures by 2031 while the sales multiple compresses faster and issuance absorbs much of what remains.

  • Base case: fiscal 2031 revenue near USD 140m, still loss-making, versus USD 12.4m trailing today.
  • At roughly 25x forward sales that implies about USD 3.5bn equity value against USD 6.35bn now.
  • Spread across an estimated 480m diluted shares, per-share value settles below the USD 17.11 anchor.

2. Scenarios & Signals

2.1. Bull Case

The bull case activates when hardware finally meets a purchase order cadence. If both Q4 annealing systems are recognised, the 17-qubit dual-rail ships on time and a 49-qubit demonstration lands in 2027, the lumpy-revenue objection dissolves into a visible rhythm of USD 20–40m machines. Recurring system sales would justify re-rating on forward rather than trailing sales, CHIPS milestones would fund the next tranche without punitive dilution, and index and momentum flows would compound the move.

2.2. Bear Case

The bear case activates when a milestone slips into a closed funding window. A Q4 delivery pushed into 2027, followed by a Quantum Circuits write-down against USD 250k of contributed revenue, would strip the dual-platform premium precisely as burn approaches USD 45m a quarter. Management would then issue equity into weakness, with Commerce's registered 7.1m-share block overhanging the tape. Dilution and multiple compression reinforce each other, and the 52-week low stops functioning as a floor.

2.3. Behavioral Alpha Signals

Sentiment, repricing cycle, crowd narrative, catalyst, and macro alignment.

Expected Volatility Regime

LowModerateHighExtreme

Greed and Fear Index

-100 Fear0+100 Greed
+42

Cycle Position

The thesis is unwinding and reflexive decline is underway.

EarlyAwareMomentumOvershootReversalCapit.StabilizeREVERSAL
Figure: Advisor position within the seven-stage market-recognition cycle. The highlighted point marks Reversal.

What does Media Tell? (Crowd Consensus)

The settled belief: quantum is the next AI trade, and Washington just certified it. Sixteen analysts carry an average USD 35.24 target — roughly double the market — and BMO initiated at Outperform citing first-mover edge and dual-technology optionality [21][22]. The anchor is the USD 46.75 fifty-two-week high, not the USD 12.4m of trailing revenue beneath it.

What Crowds Get Wrong? (Alpha/Value Gap)

The crowd overestimates these shares; they are overpriced. The overlooked evidence is not the multiple — everyone concedes roughly 500x sales — but the composition of the bookings justifying it. The 1,120% H1 bookings surge is essentially one USD 20m university order, and remaining performance obligations actually fell sequentially to USD 40.7m [7][9][10]. Third-party models implying about USD 200m of 2029 revenue demand a sixteenfold increase from a base that shrank 67% in H1 2026 [23]. That is extrapolation wearing a forecast's clothes.

When will Value Gap Repricing Happen? (Repricing Catalyst)

The March 2027 fiscal-2026 filing is the test. Management loaded the majority of 2026 revenue into Q4 on two annealing deliveries whose recognition may carry into 2027 [5][11]. The first observable sign of repricing is a November Q3 print confirming slippage, followed by disclosed ATM issuance against the January shelf.

How is Asset Influenced by Macro Regime?

Wind squarely in its face. With the federal funds rate at 3.75–4.00% and the US ten-year near 5.0%, a zero-cash-flow equity whose payoff sits in 2030–2032 carries maximum duration risk. Quantum names rallied after September's hike; read that as momentum flow, not rate immunity. Regime sensitivity here is extreme.

3. Positive & Negative Factors, Risks & Opportunities

3.1. Base-Case Forces

Near-certain positive forces

Top Drivers / Tailwinds

Structural or operating forces that support this advisor thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence).

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Top Drivers / Tailwinds with asset-specific estimated impacts and thesis rationale
Driver / TailwindCategoryEst. stock-price impactEst. earnings impactWhy it matters
Machines AT Forty Million ApieceCompetitive Positioning+30%+180%D-Wave remains the only vendor selling complete annealing systems at USD 20–40m each, with management targeting two to three sales annually [11]. The single USD 20m Florida Atlantic order lifted H1 2026 bookings to USD 35.5m from USD 2.9m [7]. Against a USD 12.4m trailing revenue base, even three deliveries a year changes the shape of the income statement rather than merely its slope.
TWO Engines ONE ChassisInnovation And Product+30%+45%The USD 550m Quantum Circuits acquisition bought a dual-rail superconducting gate-model path alongside the incumbent annealing franchise [26]. Dated milestones — 17 qubits late 2026, 49 qubits in 2027 with a claimed twenty-fold error-reduction factor — supply recurring, checkable catalysts [11]. Each credible demonstration widens the addressable market beyond optimisation into simulation and chemistry, which is what converts a hardware curiosity into a capital-equipment franchise.
Washington BUYS A SEAT AT THE TablePolitical And Geopolitical+25%+18%Commerce finalised a USD 100m CHIPS R&D agreement on 8 September 2026, roughly USD 53.5m up front with the balance milestone-linked across five years [14][15]. That shifts part of the 100,000-qubit annealing programme from shareholder-funded to taxpayer-funded, lowering net burn per milestone and easing the equity-issuance cadence. The effect persists because national-security interest in domestic quantum capability outlasts any single administration.
Solvency AS Strategic PatienceCapital Allocation+15%+10%USD 546.2m of cash and marketable securities at 30 June 2026 against roughly USD 37m of quarterly adjusted-EBITDA loss buys close to three years of runway before capex scale-up [5]. Debt-to-equity of 0.05 means no refinancing cliff in a 4% funds-rate regime. That solvency lets management time the roadmap and issue equity into strength rather than distress.

Near-certain negative forces

Top Frictions / Headwinds

Expected frictions that can slow, cap, or damage this advisor thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence).

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Top Frictions / Headwinds with asset-specific estimated impacts and thesis rationale
Friction / HeadwindCategoryEst. stock-price impactEst. earnings impactWhy it matters
FIVE Hundred Times SalesSector And Industry-55%+0.0%At roughly 511x trailing revenue the equity already discounts the 2030 roadmap. Quantinuum's flagship June 2026 listing trading near USD 51.56 against a USD 60 IPO price corroborates sector-wide multiple compression rather than a QBTS-specific indictment [19][14]. With the funds rate at 3.75–4.00% and speculative capital absorbed by the AI build-out, the sales multiple grinds toward something defensible even while revenue compounds.
THE Dilution TAX ON Every MilestoneCapital Allocation-28%-5.0%The company has raised over USD 900m and filed roughly USD 330m of fresh shelf capacity in January 2026 [8][13]. Commerce received 7,095,721 shares at USD 14.093 — struck below market — now registered for open-market resale [16]. Every roadmap milestone is financed by issuing paper, so revenue growth reaches per-share economics only after a persistent, compounding dilution charge.
COST Growth Without Volume GrowthOperational Efficiency-22%-35%Adjusted EBITDA loss rose 85% to USD 37.1m in Q2 2026 while revenue stayed flat at USD 3.1m and gross margin fell to 55.4% from 63.8% on personnel costs [2][5]. Cost growth is programme-driven, not volume-driven — the inverse of operating leverage. Until system deliveries scale, each quarter of execution widens the deficit and shortens the runway underwriting the valuation.
A Subsidy THAT ARMS THE RivalsCompetitive Positioning-20%-25%Washington is spreading USD 2bn across nine quantum firms, IBM alone taking USD 1bn for Albany fabrication [17]. The support is symmetric: it funds D-Wave's competitors as effectively as D-Wave, so it is a sector floor, not a moat. Meanwhile Google, Microsoft and a newly capitalised Quantinuum pursue error-corrected gate models with vastly deeper balance sheets, compressing annealing's incumbency premium.

3.2. Risks & Opportunities

Plausible downside scenarios

Tail Risks

Less likely downside scenarios that could materially hurt the outcome if they occur.

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Tail risks with plausibility, asset-specific potential impact and scenario rationale
Tail scenarioChance of OccurringStock Price ImpactWhy plausible / what changes
Slipped Roadmap SHUT Funding Window40%-55%The dangerous combination is a delivery miss arriving during a risk-off sector de-rating. A Q4 slip into 2027, burn approaching USD 45m a quarter, and an equity raise executed into weakness alongside Commerce's registered 7.1m-share block would push dilution and multiple compression into a self-reinforcing loop through 2027–2028. Securities-litigation notices already circulating after the Q2 miss would amplify the discount [18]. Below fifty percent because USD 546m of cash lets management defer any raise for roughly three years.
THE Goodwill Reckoning35%-38%Quantum Circuits cost USD 550m and contributed USD 250k of revenue between January and June 2026 [12][26]. If the 17-qubit dual-rail system slips past late 2026 or the 49-qubit target misses in 2027, auditors would force an impairment test at a year-end close, writing down a large share of the roughly USD 1.08bn equity book. The write-down itself is non-cash, but it destroys the dual-platform narrative that justifies the premium. Below fifty percent because early milestones remain on schedule today.

Plausible upside scenarios

Tail Opportunities

Less likely upside scenarios that could materially improve the outcome if they occur.

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Tail opportunities with plausibility, asset-specific potential impact and scenario rationale
Tail scenarioChance of OccurringStock Price ImpactWhy plausible / what changes
A Hyperscaler BIDS FOR THE Platform18%+110%Between 2028 and 2030, as gate-model error correction nears practical thresholds, a cloud or defence-prime acquirer could buy D-Wave outright for its annealing installed base, dual-rail intellectual property and CHIPS-blessed domestic supply position. A control premium over a de-rated share price would reprice the equity violently upward regardless of trailing losses. This remains below fifty percent because a federal equity stake, national-security review and the acquirer's own in-house programmes all complicate consolidation economics.
BOTH Q4 Machines LAND AND Clear35%+45%Management guided that Q4 2026 will contain the majority of full-year revenue on two annealing system deliveries, while warning that recognition may carry into 2027 [5][11]. If both ship and are accepted inside the fiscal year, the March 2027 filing shows a step-change revenue print and validates the USD 20–40m capital-equipment model. Probability stays below fifty percent precisely because management pre-flagged the slippage risk and because acceptance timing on institutional installations has historically slipped a quarter.

5. References & Context

Search behavior, retained evidence, supplied context, and response token details.
Researcher modeExternal search used

External web search was used. The retained search terms and consulted sources are shown below.

Context supplied to the model

Public-safe inputs retained with this immutable forecast publication.

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    Market data

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    Global context

    Standard global market and cross-asset context

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    Subject context

    Equity-specific subject and market context

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    Task framework

    Standard investment-forecast task guidelines

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    Advisor framework

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    Forecast output requested

    Equity Extended Investment Thesis (4 Quadrants and Alpha Asymmetry) + Pct Change Timeseries for Close Price with Rationale, (5Y Quarterly)

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Global context snapshot

2026 Year-to-Date Global Market and World-Events Context Through September 20

Download Archived Snapshot

Coverage 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-20 · Knowledge cutoff 2026-09-20

January 1-September 20, 2026: monetary tightening, energy security, trade restrictions, AI financing and divergent growth; five leading market themes.

Fed raised rates to 3.75%-4.00%; ECB hike is in force and BOJ increase starts September 24. Markets through September 18, bitcoin through September 19.

Top 3 market shifts from 2026 Year-to-Date Global Market and World-Events Context Through September 20
Top 3 Market Shifts From FileDateStatus
Renewed monetary tightening amid persistent inflation2026-01-30ACTIVE POLICY REGIME
Iran/Hormuz conflict and wider energy-security disruption2026-02-28ONGOING
Tariff legal reset and strategic supply restrictions2026-02-20ACTIVE POLICY REGIME

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And more sources from the retained context package.

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Fundamental context

Income statement

9 fields

depreciationAndAmortization · ebit · ebitda · grossProfit · +5 more fields

Balance sheet

12 fields

cash · commonStockSharesOutstanding · longTermDebt · netDebt · +8 more fields

Cash flow

5 fields

capitalExpenditures · dividendsPaid · freeCashFlow · salePurchaseOfStock · +1 more field

annual: 2020-12-31–2025-12-31, 6 periods; quarterly: 2023-09-30–2026-06-30, 12 periods

Currencies cited: USD (quote USD; primary reporting USD; converted/valuation USD).

Search terms retained

  1. 1.D-Wave Quantum QBTS second quarter 2026 results cash bookings
  2. 2.QBTS D-Wave stock news September 2026
  3. 3.D-Wave $100M CHIPS Act Department of Commerce equity stake 7.1 million shares warrant
  4. 4.Quantinuum IPO June 2026 valuation quantum computing stocks IonQ Rigetti market cap
  5. 5.D-Wave Quantum Circuits acquisition January 2026 shares issued Advantage2 roadmap 2027 revenue estimates

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