Rigetti Targets Commercial Traction With QPU-as-a-Service Strategy

Rigetti Computing RGTI is sharpening its focus on commercial viability through a service-based approach, offering quantum access via cloud platforms. The company made a significant leap with the launch of its 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system in December 2023, through its Quantum Cloud Services.

In August 2024, Rigetti extended Ankaa-2 access to AWS Braket, allowing customers to run quantum workloads on demand with daily system availability. These systems are powered by Quantum Processing Units (QPUs), the quantum equivalent of CPUs, which perform quantum operations by manipulating qubits through quantum gates. The Ankaa-2 boasts a 2.5x performance boost over its predecessor and an approximate 98% median two-qubit fidelity, making it the company’s most commercially viable QPU to date.

This QPU-as-a-Service model enables Rigetti to reach a wider user base, including enterprise, government, and academic customers, without waiting for full-scale quantum systems. Rather than relying solely on hardware sales or long-term development milestones, Rigetti is now positioned to monetize quantum usage on a consumption basis. The cloud-first approach could help bridge its near-term revenue gap while showcasing the real-world value of its superconducting quantum technology.

How Peers are Advancing the Cloud Quantum Model

IonQ IONQ continues to set the commercial benchmark in this space. Its trapped-ion quantum systems are integrated across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, offering users seamless access regardless of platform. The company also invests heavily in building application-layer solutions, particularly for machine learning, risk analysis, and quantum chemistry. Strategic collaborations with enterprise partners and government agencies further extend IonQ’s reach beyond pure hardware, positioning it as a full-stack player in the QPU-as-a-Service landscape.

D-Wave QBTS offers another model of cloud-based commercialization via its Leap platform, which provides real-time access to quantum annealing processors and hybrid solvers. Although D-Wave’s architecture differs from Rigetti’s gate-based model, Leap has handled millions of production jobs and supports enterprise clients in logistics, materials, and optimization. The company is also integrating AI/ML hybrid solvers to expand its commercial footprint. D-Wave’s success reinforces the idea that even non-universal quantum systems can generate meaningful cloud-based revenues when targeted at specific, high-impact use cases.

Rigetti’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of RGTI have lost 25.7% in the year-to-date period against the industry’s growth of 12.9%.

From a valuation standpoint, Rigetti trades at a price-to-book ratio of 15.73, 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 stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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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