The Trump administration’s renewed quantum policy push through executive actions and the likely reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA) could significantly benefit both pure-play quantum firms and tech giants that are investing heavily in this space.
Nextgov, in this regard, reported that the White House is drafting up to three executive orders focused on quantum information sciences and the migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Quantum Insider noted that these actions would extend the momentum from the 2018 NQIA, which expired in 2023, thereby setting migration timelines for agencies and contractors.
For listed quantum specialists such as IonQ IONQ, Rigetti RGTI and D-Wave QBTS, this signals new opportunities. Government mandates for PQC migration and rising R&D funding could accelerate agency adoption, moving startups beyond research pilots into applied deployments.
GovCIO Media’s report from last week stated the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios’ five-priority plan, which includes commercialization, supply chain security and workforce growth, all areas that open channels for federal funding and public-private partnerships.
For tech heavyweights like IBM IBM, Google and NVIDIA NVDA, which are already investing heavily in quantum, these directives validate their strategy, strengthen procurement pipelines and position them as backbone providers for a government-led quantum-secure transition.
In 2025, IBM advanced its roadmap and announced plans for the “Quantum Starling,” a fault-tolerant system targeted by 2029. Google unveiled its Willow quantum chip, demonstrating scalable error correction and reiterated its expectation for commercial quantum applications within five years. NVIDIA deepened its quantum bet in 2025 by announcing the NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center in Boston. Meanwhile, its venture arm NVentures backed players such as QuEra and PsiQuantum and partnered with Quantinuum as a founding collaborator at the new center.
Reflecting this optimism, quantum-related stocks have rallied in recent days, with the Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) gaining 12.2% month to date as investors price in stronger federal support and accelerated adoption cycles across the network.
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Meanwhile, let’s see how things are shaping up for the pure plays.
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D-Wave: In 2025, D-Wave advanced both hardware and market adoption. Its Strategic Development Initiative for Advanced Cryogenic Packaging aims to scale annealing and gate-model processors through multichip packaging and superconducting interconnects with NASA’s JPL. On the market side, APAC bookings rose around 83% year over year, with pilot projects in Japan and South Korea. The roadmap targets larger multichip systems and its Advantage2 system is now generally available, offering improved connectivity and coherence. Government PQC and quantum security mandates could drive agencies to obtain D-Wave’s hardware and software.
QBTS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The stock is expected to report 2025 earnings growth of 68% over a 181.5% revenue increase. Month to date, the stock has risen 64.4%.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. Price and Consensus
D-Wave Quantum Inc. price-consensus-chart | D-Wave Quantum Inc. Quote
IonQ: This year, IonQ has expanded globally through acquisitions of Oxford Ionics and Vector Atomic, strengthening trapped-ion tech, quantum sensing, networking and secure communications. Its roadmap targets 2 million physical qubits by 2030 and fault-tolerant, high-fidelity systems. These moves position IonQ to benefit from government PQC mandates and federal funding for quantum-safe technologies, accelerating adoption beyond research into practical deployments.
IONQ also carries a Zacks Rank #3. The stock is expected to report 2025 earnings growth of 37.88% on a 115.1% revenue increase. Month to date, the stock has surged 68.4%.
IonQ, Inc. Price and Consensus
IonQ, Inc. price-consensus-chart | IonQ, Inc. Quote
Rigetti: In 2025, Rigetti has advanced its modular multi-chip systems, making its 36-qubit computer generally available with 99.5% two-qubit gate fidelity. It aims to deliver 100+ qubits by the year-end and is expanding global collaborations, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India’s C-DAC for hybrid quantum system development. Rigetti’s superconducting/hybrid QC, high-fidelity modular systems and global collaborations position it to capitalize on federal PQC mandates, secure computing contracts and government partnerships, especially as it deploys 100+ qubit systems.
RGTI also carries a Zacks Rank #3. The stock is expected to report 2025 earnings growth of 86.1% despite a 19.7% revenue drop. Month to date, the stock has rallied 74.8%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Rigetti Computing, Inc. Price and Consensus
Rigetti Computing, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Rigetti Computing, Inc. Quote
Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock
This under-the-radar company specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don’t build. It’s uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. And it’s just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.
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