D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) Trading Down 2.7% – Here’s What Happened
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyD-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:QBTS – Get Free Report) shares fell 2.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.60 and last traded at $16.66. Approximately 12,771,738 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 27,899,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.12.
D-Wave Quantum News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting D-Wave Quantum this week:
- Positive Sentiment: D-Wave finalized a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million under the CHIPS and Science Act. The funding is expected to extend D-Wave’s cash runway, support domestic quantum-computing development, and provide a significant vote of confidence from Washington. D-Wave finalizes Department of Commerce agreement
- Positive Sentiment: The broader government initiative provides up to $300 million in minority equity investments across D-Wave, Rigetti, and Quantinuum. Federal participation could improve D-Wave’s financial position, raise the sector’s profile, and support future customer and commercial adoption. Uncle Sam’s Quantum Leap
- Neutral Sentiment: D-Wave issued approximately 7.1 million shares to the U.S. government as part of the funding arrangement. The capital is favorable for liquidity, but the new shares will dilute existing shareholders. D-Wave issues shares under CHIPS deal
- Neutral Sentiment: Director John DiLullo sold 1,100 shares for $19,800 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents a relatively small transaction, it provides limited information about management’s current outlook. D-Wave director share sale
- Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into potential securities-law violations involving D-Wave. The announcements create headline and litigation risk, although they do not establish wrongdoing. QBTS investigation alert
- Negative Sentiment: D-Wave remains unprofitable, and its latest quarterly revenue of $3.08 million missed expectations while adjusted loss per share was wider than forecast. Its very high valuation and dependence on future quantum-computing growth could continue to pressure the stock if commercial revenue does not accelerate.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently commented on QBTS. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $40.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of D-Wave Quantum from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.27.
Read Our Latest Report on QBTS
D-Wave Quantum Stock Up 0.8%
The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.98. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.66 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a quick ratio of 20.42, a current ratio of 20.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.02). D-Wave Quantum had a negative net margin of 2,001.59% and a negative return on equity of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $3.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 0.6 on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at D-Wave Quantum
In other news, Director Rohit Ghai sold 13,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total value of $357,010.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,724.97. The trade was a 36.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John M. Markovich sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $5,142,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,142,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,381,902.20. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 217,688 shares of company stock worth $5,570,847 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 195.7% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 41,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 27,592 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 319.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 75,198 shares during the period. Clear Street Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. now owns 4,281,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,106 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 295.0% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 54,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 40,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 112,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,948,000 after acquiring an additional 23,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.47% of the company’s stock.
D-Wave Quantum Company Profile
D-Wave Quantum Inc develops quantum computing systems, software, and services for commercial, government, and research customers. The company is best known for its quantum annealing technology, which is designed to help solve complex optimization problems involving areas such as logistics, scheduling, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and financial modeling.
D-Wave also develops gate-model quantum computing technology and provides access to its systems through cloud-based services, including the Leap quantum application environment.