Can RGTI's $5.7M Novera System Purchase Orders Signal Rising Demand?

Rigetti Computing RGTI has announced purchase orders worth approximately $5.7 million for two of its 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems, marking a meaningful step toward commercial traction for its on-premises hardware. One system is being acquired by an Asian technology manufacturer to develop internal quantum expertise and validate proprietary quantum technologies, while the other will go to a California-based applied physics and AI startup for hardware and error correction research. Both deliveries are slated for the first half of 2026, underscoring growing global interest in small-scale, upgradeable quantum systems.

The Novera platform, built on Rigetti’s Ankaa-class architecture, features a 9-qubit processor with tunable couplers for high-fidelity two-qubit operations. Each setup includes a compatible dilution refrigerator, state-of-the-art control systems and integration support for hands-on research across quantum gate design, decoherence mitigation and algorithm optimization. With these orders, Rigetti is seeing tangible validation for its Fab-1 manufacturing model and modular system design — positioning the company to deepen its foothold in the expanding quantum R&D hardware market.

Peers Updates

D-Wave Quantum QBTS has moved its Advantage2 system from preview to general availability, bringing a next-generation annealing architecture with higher qubit connectivity, greater energy scale and enhanced coherence into the hands of customers. The company is also expanding developer access via new hybrid toolkits that enable users to combine quantum annealing with classical compute resources, aiming to make its platform more usable for enterprise and research workloads, while accelerating adoption across logistics, AI optimization and financial modeling use cases.

Quantum Computing Inc. QUBT recently shipped its first commercial entangled photon source to a leading research institution in South Korea, a tangible milestone in its push from lab to market. The system operates in the telecom C-band and is compatible with existing fiber optics, bolstering its role in quantum communication and cybersecurity. Beyond that, the company is leveraging its photonic platform for quantum sensing (e.g., photon-based vibrometer prototypes) and has already secured its first quantum cybersecurity product sale to a U.S. financial institution.

Rigetti’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of RGTI have gained 187.7% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s growth of 18.7%.

From a valuation standpoint, Rigetti trades at a price-to-book ratio of 25.73, above the industry average. RGTI carries a Value Score of F.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Rigetti’s 2025 earnings implies a significant 86.1% rise from the year-ago period.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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