How Should Investors Interpret Rigetti's 108-Qubit Roadmap Update?

Rigetti Computing’s RGTI latest update on its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system reflects a deliberate shift toward performance discipline rather than a fundamental change in strategy. Management pushed the system’s general availability to around the end of the first quarter of 2026, citing the need for additional testing and optimization to reach its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity.

Notably, this is not a case of stalled progress. Rigetti has already demonstrated 99% median two-qubit fidelity on the 108-qubit system and even higher fidelities on its smaller 9-qubit and 36-qubit platforms, underscoring that the technical foundation remains intact. For investors, the delay appears rooted in execution refinement, not technological uncertainty.

The update also highlights the real-world complexity of scaling modular quantum systems. Cepheus-1-108Q is built from 12 9-qubit chiplets connected via tunable couplers, and it is precisely at this higher level of integration that new engineering challenges tend to emerge. Rigetti’s decision to run another chip iteration to optimize these couplers suggests a preference for launching a system that meets performance benchmarks rather than rushing to market with suboptimal fidelity.

While the timeline adjustment slightly pushes out near-term commercialization, it may ultimately strengthen Rigetti’s credibility with partners and customers who prioritize reliable, high-quality quantum performance. From an investor standpoint, the roadmap update reads less like a setback and more like a measured recalibration aligned with long-term value creation.

Peers Updates

IonQ IONQ recently announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, confirming plans to deliver a next-generation 100-qubit IonQ Tempo quantum system to support South Korea’s National Quantum Computing Center of Excellence. The system will be integrated into KISTI’s flagship KISTI-6 supercomputing cluster, creating the country’s first onsite hybrid quantum-classical environment.

For investors, the deal underscores IonQ’s growing traction with national research institutions and highlights its ability to embed quantum systems directly into large-scale HPC infrastructure, expanding real-world use cases and strengthening IonQ’s position as a long-term infrastructure partner in the global quantum ecosystem.

D-Wave Quantum QBTS recently announced a key technical milestone with the successful demonstration of scalable on-chip cryogenic control for gate-model quantum computers, an industry-first achievement that addresses one of the biggest barriers to large-scale quantum systems. By dramatically reducing the amount of wiring needed to control qubits, without sacrificing fidelity, the breakthrough improves the practicality and scalability of gate-model architectures. Notably, D-Wave validated that the same cryogenic control technology already used in its commercial annealing systems can be applied to gate-model QPUs, reinforcing the company’s ability to leverage existing engineering strengths across platforms.

Rigetti’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of RGTI have gained 99.9% in the last six-month period against the industry’s decline of 7.6%.

From a valuation standpoint, Rigetti trades at a price-to-book ratio of 22.66, above the industry average. RGTI carries a Value Score of F.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Rigetti’s 2025 earnings implies a significant 88.9% decline 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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