Who says quantum computing is still years away from being a commercially viable industry?
Most industry experts appear to agree on that timeline, but Rigetti Computing (RGTI) is at least proving that it can still generate revenue even if broad commerciality may not happen until the beginning of the next decade.
The company announced last week that it had secured two purchase orders for its 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems, worth about $5.7 million in total.
The company said that one system was purchased by an Asian technology manufacturing company and the other was bought by a California-based applied physics and artificial intelligence startup.
The former will use Novera as a testbed to develop internal quantum computing expertise, while the latter is using it for quantum hardware and error correction research.
Rigetti will deliver both systems in the first half of 2026.
“The Novera QPU continues to be chosen and trusted by national labs and researchers across the world to advance quantum computing technology R&D,” Rigetti CEO Dr. Subodh Kulkarni said in a statement. “We are excited to see the increased demand for on-premises quantum computing systems as the industry matures.”
Rigetti’s stock soared 19% on news of the purchase orders and hit an intraday record of $35.81 on Thursday. It gained another 13.2% on Friday and has surged 162.5% for the year.
Rigetti’s tide lifts all quantum stocks
Rigetti’s announcement appeared to pull up the shares of its rivals on Thursday as investors remain bullish on the quantum space. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) gained 12%, Quantum Computing (QUBT) rose 7.5%% and IonQ (IONQ) was up 6.2%.
Rigetti’s share price has more than doubled since the start of the year, while D-Wave has more than tripled.
Within the quantum space, Rigetti has built its name on research and development, and the company identifies the Novera quantum computing system as being built to pursue research in the areas of qubits, control systems, testing the design and characterization of gates, mitigating decoherence, and developing efficient quantum algorithms.
It was manufactured at Rigetti’s Fab-1, which it calls the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility.
In addition to these two orders, Rigetti last month said that it had secured a $5.8 million award from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to advance superconducting networking with the military branch.
Rigetti will be working on the project in collaboration with QphoX, a Dutch quantum technology startup developing leading frequency conversion systems for quantum applications.
The two companies will be exploring different “revolutionary use cases” for the technology, including developing a secure quantum internet.
Sean O’Hara, president at Pacer ETFs, told MarketWatch last month that the quantum space is bound to gain more traction because of the massive energy demands needed by AI hyperscalers, who will be looking for more efficient computing models in order to reduce their energy use.
“The quantum play is one where you can get the same amount of computations with less energy output,” O’Hara said.
However, he cautioned that investors should expect a “a pretty volatile ride” with quantum stocks as the industry moves toward commercial viability over the next several years.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are markedmarked