QBTS, RGTI Beat NVDA in 2025: Can Quantum Win Again in 2026?

As 2026 begins, investor optimism toward quantum computing is reaching a new high, fueled by tangible technological progress and solid stock performance in 2025. Quantum pure-play stock D-Wave Quantum QBTS emerged as the standout, with its share price gaining 211% during the year, driven by growing interest in quantum annealing systems and government-linked deployments. Rigetti Computing RGTI also delivered a 45% gain, reflecting cautious investor confidence as the company advanced its gate-based roadmap despite ongoing execution risk.

Notably, while the broader equity market remained fixated on artificial intelligence and its bellwether, NVIDIA NVDA, which gained 38.8% in 2025, both QBTS and RGTI outperformed the AI leader during this period. This relative outperformance highlights a growing willingness among investors to selectively price in real-world quantum progress rather than treat the sector purely as a long-dated option.

2025 Stock Comparison

The key question heading into 2026 is whether this momentum can be sustained as quantum computing transitions from proof-of-concept milestones to scalable commercial deployment. Let’s find out.

How 2026 Will Shape Up for the Broader Quantum Space?

According to recent research by Global Growth Insights, the global quantum computing market is projected to expand from around $0.8 billion in 2025 to approximately $1.08 billion in 2026, implying a robust CAGR of about 35% over the next decade as enterprises increasingly adopt cloud-accessible quantum systems and hybrid quantum-classical workflows across finance, pharmaceuticals and industrial optimization.

This trajectory is further strengthened by separate forecasts that suggest that the broader quantum computing market could witness a CAGR approaching 41.8% through 2030, driven by rising hardware deployments, expanding software ecosystems and intensifying public-private investment initiatives (Markets and Markets report).

Behind recent pureplay stock movements are tangible advances in hardware and deployment. International Business Machines IBM continues to expand its enterprise-grade quantum systems while laying out multi-year roadmaps toward fault-tolerant architectures. Google’s 105-qubit Willow processor marked a major milestone by demonstrating a verifiable quantum advantage on select simulation tasks, highlighting accelerating performance gains at the hardware level.

At the same time, quantum enablers are playing an increasingly critical role. Intel INTC plays a major role through its work on silicon-based qubits and cryogenic control electronics, which are critical for scaling quantum systems reliably. NVIDIA too is emerging as a critical quantum infrastructure enabler, providing the classical compute and software layers required to integrate quantum processors into practical hybrid workflows. Other enablers across semiconductors, photonics and test infrastructure are benefiting from rising system complexity and higher deployment volumes.

Taken together, accelerating market growth, real deployments and deepening involvement from major technology platforms suggest 2026 could mark a pivotal year for both quantum pure-plays and enabling incumbents.

Optimism Surrounding D-Wave and Rigetti for 2026

QBTS: The company has entered 2026 with strong momentum, supported by solid top-line growth and a strengthening balance sheet. In its third-quarter fiscal 2025 results, the company reported a 100% year-over-year increase in revenues and a 156% rise in gross profit, while ending the quarter with a record cash balance exceeding $836 million, providing substantial runway for R&D and commercial expansion. D-Wave continues to focus on quantum annealing and hybrid solver systems, delivered via cloud and on-premises deployments and now serves more than 100 revenue-generating customers. Looking ahead, the company’s Qubits 2026 user conference is expected to showcase further product and customer progress.

In 2026, D-Wave, a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, is projected to witness earnings growth of 7% on revenue growth of 61.1%. Based on short-term price targets offered by 14 analysts, the average price target represents an increase of 38.7% from the last closing price of $28.1.

RGTI: The company started 2026 with progress on its superconducting quantum hardware roadmap and a significantly strengthened balance sheet. In 2025, the company achieved 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on its modular 36-qubit Cepheus system and reaffirmed plans to deploy 100+ qubit chiplet-based systems with comparable fidelity, signaling steady engineering advancement. Financially, Rigetti completed a $350 million at-the-market equity offering, lifting cash resources to approximately $575 million with no debt, providing runway for R&D and commercialization. While execution risks remain, these milestones support cautious optimism as Rigetti scales its quantum stack and hybrid integrations in 2026.

In 2026, Rigetti, a Zacks Rank #3 stock, is projected to record earnings growth of 74.3% on revenue growth of 197.6%. Based on short-term price targets offered by nine analysts, the average price target represents an increase of 59.2% from the last closing price of $23.6. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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

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