Can Rigetti's 264% Year-to-Date Rally Hold as Quantum Race Heats Up?

Rigetti Computing RGTI staggering 264% year-to-date surge has turned heads across the quantum investing landscape, and for good reason. The company has strung together a series of meaningful wins that suggest its technology may finally be gaining commercial traction. Key catalysts include new purchase orders for its 9-qubit Novera systems and a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract focused on hybrid quantum-classical computing, both signaling growing real-world demand beyond the research phase. Equally important, Rigetti’s progress on chiplet-based architecture has reignited investor optimism around its scalability and cost efficiency, positioning it as a leaner, more focused player in an increasingly competitive field.

The optimism is also reflected in the company’s expanding global footprint. Recent collaborations with India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Montana State University highlight Rigetti’s push to broaden its reach and strengthen its presence in key research markets. These partnerships enhance credibility and open new opportunities for its quantum cloud services and hardware business. Still, the stock’s steep rise has sparked debate among investors about whether this is the start of a real turnaround or just a short-term rally driven by hype.

While Rigetti’s momentum is strong, its revenue base remains small and losses continue. With the quantum computing race heating up, Rigetti now faces the challenge of proving that its recent wins can translate into sustained growth and financial stability.

Peers Updates

IonQ IONQ has strengthened its quantum roadmap with the acquisitions of Oxford Ionics and Lightsynq, enhancing its ion-trap and photonic interconnect technologies to improve system scalability and performance. The deals also expand IonQ’s intellectual property portfolio, now surpassing 1,000 total assets — a clear sign of deepening competitive moats.

These strategic moves position IonQ to accelerate both quantum computing and networking capabilities, giving it a head start as demand for hybrid quantum solutions rises. Together, these developments underscore IonQ’s shift from pure research toward commercial deployment and ecosystem leadership in the fast-evolving quantum market.

Arqit Quantum ARQQ continues to carve its niche in quantum-safe encryption, recently joining the Oracle Defense Ecosystem to strengthen its presence across secure government and enterprise networks. It was also selected by the UK’s NCSC to support post-quantum cryptography migration — a major credibility boost in cybersecurity circles.

Additionally, Fabric Networks licensed Arqit’s NetworkSecure platform to deploy quantum-safe encryption at scale, signaling real-world adoption of its technology. These milestones mark steady progress toward commercial validation, even as Arqit focuses on translating partnerships into sustainable revenue growth.

Rigetti’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of RGTI have gained 263.8% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s growth of 17%.

From a valuation standpoint, Rigetti trades at a price-to-book ratio of 32.88, 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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