Quantum Outlook for March 2026: 3 Stocks With Over 100% Price Target

The quantum computing sector has recorded lackluster performance in February 2026. Month to date, the Defiance Quantum ETF QTUM has edged up 1.2% with many pure-plays showing volatility and sector-wide weakness as investors rotated away from high-risk, long-duration tech assets.

Amid geopolitical tensions and policy uncertainty, many investors chose to sell their quantum stocks to lock in gains, putting downward pressure on prices.

Macroeconomic Backdrop

Monetary policy in major economies remains in pause mode. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady in late January 2026, keeping the federal funds rate at about 3.50–3.75%.

Other central banks are also maintaining elevated rates to control inflation while monitoring labor market stabilization. Fed minutes show job gains and unemployment stabilization, but inflation is still above target, restraining aggressive rate easing.

Further, heightened geopolitical tensions, such as in the Middle East and trade frictions involving North America, continue to elevate market uncertainty, potentially delaying capex in deep tech sectors. Additionally, global trade frictions add supply chain risk for hardware-intensive quantum ecosystems, dragging down sentiment.

As per major market watchers, stable job growth with unemployment near pre-pandemic levels supports consumer confidence but does not meaningfully shift risk appetite toward speculative equities like quantum stocks.

Market and Industry Fundamentals

Going by an Investing.com article, the global quantum computing market will reach about $2 billion in 2026, driven by defense, aerospace and early enterprise use cases, but the sector remains nascent with low current revenues.

Leading quantum computing companies, such as IonQ IONQ, D-Wave Quantum QBTS and Rigetti Computing RGTI, all Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stocks, currently show significant upside in their short-term price targets.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here

As the charts show, IONQ’s average price target represents an increase of 125.85% from the last closing price of $33.43.

QBTS’s average price target represents an increase of 108.26% from the last closing price of $19.38.

RGTI’s average price target represents an increase of 142.77% from the last closing price of $16.60.

March 2026 Outlook

These projections above are largely based on expectations that the companies will achieve key technological milestones, expand enterprise partnerships and accelerate commercialization of their quantum systems.

However, this bullish outlook is tempered by significant stock price volatility. Investors remain cautious because these firms are still in early revenue stages and profitability timelines are uncertain. As a result, valuations can swing sharply depending on fourth-quarter earnings updates (to be released shortly), contract wins, or broader market sentiment toward high-risk technology stocks.

Overall, given the data and estimates, March is likely to see selective stabilization rather than broad sector recovery. Stocks tied to defense contracts, hardware milestones or near-term revenues could outperform, while others could remain valuation-sensitive to macro risk and execution progress.

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

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