D-Wave Quantum QBTS stock, despite intensifying competition from quantum powerhouses like International Business Machines IBM and Google GOOGL, has soared 151.6% over the past three months, far outpacing broader markets and the S&P 500 benchmark ahead of its second-quarter 2025 earnings release. This surge reflects growing investor confidence in D-Wave Quantum’s differentiated path, backed by breakthrough achievements including the world’s first demonstration of quantum supremacy on a real-world problem, record revenues from its Advantage2 system sale and a robust $304 million cash position. As its second-quarter earnings release date approaches, QBTS appears poised to extend its lead as the only pure-play quantum company translating scientific milestones into commercial production, and closing in on profitability faster than its peers.
Three-Month Price Performance
Major Growth Drivers That Likely Propelled Q2 Performance
Strong Financial Base & Profitability Path: D-Wave closed the first quarter with record revenues of more than $15 million, a 509% year-over-year increase, largely driven by the commercial sale of its Advantage annealing quantum system to the Julich Supercomputing Centre and growth in its quantum computing-as-a-service (QCaaS) and professional services segments.
Net loss narrowed to $5.4 million, the lowest since going public, highlighting improved cost discipline and operating leverage. This trend aligns with the company’s previously stated expectation of becoming the first pure-play quantum computing company to achieve sustained profitability, outperforming direct peers like IonQ IONQ and Rigetti (RGTI) in capital efficiency.
As of March 31, 2025, the company had $304 million in cash following successful ATM offerings and early loan repayment, with nearly $295 million raised in just 23 trading days. Management believes this capital is sufficient to achieve profitability without major dilution. Coupled with high-margin QCaaS revenues and growing customer adoption, D-Wave is well-positioned for scalable, capital-efficient growth. These strengths are likely to show through in the upcoming Q2 results.
Commercial Launch of Advantage2 & Quantum Supremacy Milestone: During the months of the second quarter,D-Wave marked a major technical and commercial inflection point with the official launch of its sixth-generation Advantage2 annealing quantum system. Advantage2 offers over 4,400 qubits, 20-way qubit connectivity, 40% higher energy scale and 75% noise reduction, making it the company’s most production-ready system yet for solving real-world optimization problems.
Complementing the system’s launch, D-Wave’s Q1 publication in Science demonstrated the world’s first real-world quantum supremacy, solving a material science problem in minutes that would take a classical supercomputer around 1 million years and massive energy consumption. This breakthrough validated D-Wave’s “Quantum Realized” positioning and reinforced its lead in practical, near-term quantum computing. These achievements are expected to translate into meaningful revenue acceleration starting in the second quarter.
Q2 Estimates for QBTS
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for D-Wave Quantum’s second-quarter earnings and revenues implies 30% and 15.7% improvement, respectively, from the year-ago period.
Downsides Still Remain
The absence of a one-time hardware sale like the first quarter’s Julich deal may lead to sequential revenue softness. Although the Advantage2 system was launched in May, its significant impact on sales may be delayed due to long enterprise sales cycles. Meanwhile, well-funded rivals like IBM and Google continue to garner industry attention with progress in gate-based quantum computing, potentially challenging D-Wave’s annealing-focused adoption. This competitive gap could affect enterprise adoption and perception, especially as IBM pushes toward fault-tolerant quantum and Google scales its quantum AI initiatives. Added pressures from Leap cloud expansion, deployment costs and the absence of fresh ATM funding could also weigh on margins and sentiment.
Hold QBTS Ahead of Q2 Release
Ahead of its second-quarter earnings, D-Wave Quantum, a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, offers a balanced outlook. Its quantum supremacy breakthrough, Advantage2 launch and a strong cash reserve support long-term potential. However, the absence of one-time hardware sales, extended sales cycles, and competition from IBM and Google may weigh on near-term performance. Investors may consider holding positions while watching second-quarter results for sustained revenue growth and progress toward profitability. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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