After a rough start to the year, America’s four major publicly traded quantum computing companies are surging once again.
The latest rally kicked off about a month ago, right around World Quantum Day, and since then, all four quantum computing companies—D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ), Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT), and Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI)—have recovered much of their 2026 losses.
And today, their stocks are up even more. Here’s why.
Quantum stocks are finally reversing their bad start to 2026
America’s so-called Quantum Four publicly traded companies saw an incredible year of stock gains in 2025. But in the first part of 2026, investor sentiment soured.
Some of this was likely due to simple profit-taking after a stellar run and a little post-high clarity that while quantum computing may be the future of computing, that future is still years away.
And of course, external factors, including geopolitical uncertainty, AI bubble fears, and generalized anxiety about the economy, also helped pull down quantum stocks (as with most other tech stocks).
But in the last month, the fortunes of quantum stocks began to turn. As Fast Company previously reported, this all started around World Quantum Day in mid-April. And that April rally is now continuing into May.
As of this writing, all four quantum computing companies are seeing their stock prices jump yet again in premarket trading, including:
- D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS): up almost 7%
- IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ): up 4.5%
- Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT): up 24%
- Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI): up 5%
Keep in mind, those premarket gains are in addition to gains seen over the the previous five trading sessions. Since that time, Rigetti is up nearly 16%, Quantum Computing Inc is up over 7%, IonQ is up over 24%, and D-Wave is up nearly 15%.
Why have the Quantum Four surged so much over the past week?
It’s quantum earnings season
The most significant reason why quantum stocks are surging recently is that we are in quantum earnings season, when all four major quantum computing companies report their latest results—and those results have been good.
IonQ kicked off the quantum earnings season last week, reporting its Q1 2026 results on May 6. The company reported a staggering 755% year-over-year revenue growth.
Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc. were up next, with both companies reporting their Q1 2026 results yesterday, May 11.
Rigetti reported revenue growth of 193% year over year, while Quantum Computing Inc. posted an astronomical revenue growth of over 9,300% year over year for its Q1.
Finally, this morning, D-Wave reported its Q1 results. While the company’s revenue actually declined 81% year over year, it reported Q1 bookings of $33.4 million—a growth of 1,994% versus Q1 2025 bookings.
“Bookings” are signed contracts for future business, and surging bookings signify that the company’s business dealings are picking up pace.
A long road ahead
Despite the recent stock price surge in all four quantum companies, the firms and the technology have a long road ahead before quantum computing represents as big a shift in the technology landscape as AI does today.
Many experts believe that the widespread use of quantum computers will not arrive until the mid-2030s at the earliest.
However, when it does, the shift in computing has the possibility to upend everything from communications to national security, and the companies operating at the center of that shift stand to gain the most.
For now, before today’s premarket gains, three of the four Quantum Four had stock prices in the red year-to-date, including Rigetti (down 7.4%), Quantum Computing Inc. (down 0.78%), and D-Wave (down 8.1%).
Only IonQ was positive for the year, up a respectable 26.7%.
