Why Rigetti Computing Stock Plummeted 22.3% in the First Half of 2025 -- What Comes Next?

Key Points

• Rigetti Computing stock saw fell in the first half of 2025 after surging 1,449% last year.

• Comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang played a significant role in shaping Rigetti's stock moves across the first half of the year.

• Rigetti's share price has been skyrocketing in July.

• 10 stocks we like better than Rigetti Computing ›

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) stock got hit with substantial sell-offs in the first half of this year. The company's share price fell 22.3% across the stretch, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock lost ground even as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) saw a 5.5% increase.

After skyrocketing 1,449% across 2024's trading, the quantum computing specialist's share price saw a significant pullback in 2025's first half. On the other hand, the stock has been posting big gains in July's trading -- and it has now more than bounced back from sell-offs earlier in the year.

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Rigetti stock pulled back in the first half of 2025

Following massive gains in last year's trading, Rigetti Computing saw substantial sell-offs early in 2025 as investors moved to take profits. The stock saw pullbacks in conjunction with macroeconomic catalysts and volatility for growth-dependent tech stocks.

Rigetti stock also saw significant moves in conjunction with statements made by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. In January, Huang said that 15 years was likely too early as a timeline for quantum computing to have meaningful commercial applications, and indicated he thought it would probably take at least 20 years.

Huang's initial comments on his outlook for quantum computing technologies prompted big sell-offs for Rigetti and other companies in the category, but the tech leader subsequently weighed in with more optimistic projections for the industry. He suggested that he was incorrect about the timeline for quantum commercialization in March, and stated in June that the technology could be reaching an inflection point. The statements helped power valuation surges for quantum computing stocks, and Rigetti's valuation got a big boost from the trend.

What's next for Rigetti Computing?

Rigetti Computing stock has posted huge gains early in this year's second half. The company's share price is up roughly 40% this month thanks to some excitement surrounding the quantum computing space and some big news for the business.

Rigetti published a press release yesterday announcing that it had achieved 99.5% median 2-qubit gate fidelity on its modular 36-qubit system and significantly reduced the error rate over the previous best results for its 84-qubit Ankaa system. The company said that it is on track to launch its 36-qubit system on Aug. 15, and that it's poised to release its 100-qubit-plus chipset before this year is over. The performance update helped spur a big rally for the stock, and investors appear to be excited about the Rigetti's commercialization plans for this year.

Rigetti is valued at approximately 554 times this year's expected sales. With such an extremely growth-dependent valuation, the stock looks very high risk right now -- but it's possible that the company is in the early stages of capitalizing on huge long-term growth for the quantum computing industry.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.