quantum

Nvidia (NVDA 0.86%) has been one of the most successful stocks in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, rising 1,130% since it began at the start of 2023. This has delivered long-term investors phenomenal returns, but there’s a new, exciting investment trend in town that could disrupt how investors view Nvidia’s success.

Quantum computing is one of the most popular industries to invest in, and its stocks have surged over the past few months as investor sentiment surrounding the industry has improved. One of the most popular options is IonQ (IONQ -3.92%), which is no stranger to success. If you’d invested in IonQ instead of Nvidia at the start of 2023, you’d be up 2,150% (at the time of this writing)!

That may have some investors thinking they’ve backed the wrong horse in the computing race. So, is it time to move on from Nvidia and scoop up shares of IonQ? Let’s find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia and IonQ are similar businesses

At their core, Nvidia and IonQ are quite close in terms of business pursuit. Nvidia makes graphics processing units (GPUs) alongside other equipment to optimize their performance. GPUs have become the gold standard in high-performance computing applications such as artificial intelligence, drug discovery, engineering simulations, and cryptocurrency mining. Their unique ability to process multiple calculations in parallel makes them a computing powerhouse, and AI hyperscalers have widely deployed them to train and run generative AI models.

IonQ appears to be a much earlier version of Nvidia, focusing on quantum computing rather than traditional computing methods. It’s developing a full-stack solution that provides clients with everything they need to run a quantum computer. Once quantum computing becomes mainstream, many believe it can have widespread use cases in applications like AI training and logistics network improvements. This could lead to a massive market opportunity, similar to what Nvidia experienced at the start of the AI arms race.

However, we’re still a ways away from quantum computing becoming relevant. IonQ and many other quantum computing companies point toward 2030 as the year when quantum computing will become a commercially viable technology. That’s five years out, and there’s still a lot of time for things to go wrong for IonQ (or go right).

IonQ competitor Rigetti Computing estimates that the annual value for quantum computing providers will reach $15 billion to $30 billion between 2030 and 2040. Should IonQ replicate Nvidia’s success by 2030, it could still have room to grow between now and then.

If we assume that the market reaches $15 billion annually in 2030 and IonQ replicates Nvidia’s dominant 90% market share and 50% profit margin, IonQ would be producing profits of $6.75 billion. At a 40 times earnings valuation, that would indicate IonQ could be a $270 billion company, more than a 10x from today’s $23 billion valuation.

But is that enough to warrant selling Nvidia shares to invest in IonQ?

Nvidia has a growth trend of its own

Over the next few years, capital expenditures relating to AI data centers are set to explode. Nvidia estimates that total capital expenditures in 2025 will total $600 billion, but reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030. If that plays out like Nvidia projects, the total amount of money spent on data center capital expenditures will rise at a compound annual growth rate of 42%. If Nvidia’s growth directly follows that trajectory, that means its stock could rise nearly 6 times in value.

So, which is more likely: Quantum computing becomes viable, IonQ establishes a dominant, Nvidia-like market share and achieves incredibly high margins, or Nvidia’s growth follows widely accepted AI spending trends? I think it’s more likely that the AI arms race continues in its current form, making holding on to Nvidia shares a smart decision. After all of the quantum computing investment hype, I think it’s time for investors to take a break from this sector and focus on some companies that have actual money flowing into them, rather than quantum computing-specific businesses like IonQ.

Quantum computing stocks have been on an absolute tear recently as their companies announced major contract wins. But that was all topped off by JPMorgan Chase‘s announcement this week that it’s investing $10 billion into strategic tech companies. That includes quantum computing businesses. But for quantum computing stocks to rise around 20% (some more, some less) following that news is troublesome.

No specific investment was announced in any of these companies, and other massive industries were listed in the release — such as supply chain and advanced manufacturing, defense and aerospace, energy technology, and frontier and strategic technologies (where quantum computing was lumped in). This raises concerns about the short-term nature of the quantum computing market. The combined rise of all quantum computing stocks was more than the overall $10 billion investment announced by JPMorgan Chase, so there’s clearly not enough to go around.

Observers have begun to speculate that there may be a quantum computing bubble forming. So is now the time to sell? I think Warren Buffett has some great advice for investors on what they should do.

Image source: Getty Images.

Warren Buffett has seen a bubble or two in his career

Warren Buffett is the legendary CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a position he has held since he took control of the company in 1965. Over the years, Buffett has given investors several great pieces of wisdom, and I think one quote is applicable right now. He wrote that his goal was to “attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”

There are clearly many signs of greed in the quantum computing market. As mentioned above, many of the quantum computing stocks rose by a massive amount in response to a nonspecific announcement that JPMorgan Chase would invest in emerging technologies.

Furthermore, we’re still years away from quantum computing viability. Most competitors point toward 2030 as the likely turning point in quantum computing’s commercial relevance, and that’s still five years away. Five years ago, we were in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and nobody (outside of a handful of companies) had ever heard the term generative AI. It’s impossible to know what will happen in the field over the next five years, or which companies will be the winners.

Most of the investment dollars flowing into the quantum computing space have centered around the pure plays. Still, there are also legacy tech players, like Alphabet, Microsoft, and IBM, which have nearly unlimited resources compared to pure plays like IonQ (IONQ -3.92%) or Rigetti Computing (RGTI -3.01%). It’s still an uphill battle for IonQ and Rigetti, and just because the big tech players aren’t saying anything doesn’t mean they aren’t experiencing success.

Companies like IonQ and Rigetti Computing are still years away from profits, and have to rely on government contracts and stock issuance to continue to fund their operations. As a result, they must issue a news release on any piece of positive news they can to let investors know about their successes. The big tech companies like Alphabet, IBM, and Microsoft can afford to stay silent about any breakthroughs, as they’re internally funding their research.

The big tech players may be far more advanced than the pure plays, even if nobody outside of those companies knows it yet. I think this could be setting up some of the pure-play stocks for failure, and their shareholders should take action.

Taking some profits in an increasingly frothy industry is a smart move

Another Warren Buffett quote is applicable in this situation, too: “The first rule in investment is ‘Don’t lose.’ And the second rule in investment is ‘Don’t forget the first rule.'” Investors have already made a significant amount of money on the quantum computing trade, and while it’s possible these stocks could continue rising, a crash may be around the corner.

If you’ve invested in these stocks at any time this year, it may be time to at least trim some of them, as it’s unlikely that they’ll continue rising forever. By taking some profits now, you can be well positioned to deploy them back into the industry if it returns to earth.

Nobody ever lost money by selling a stock at a profit, although they have lost out on even larger returns. Still, I think the risk is greater than the reward, and it may be a wise time to take some profits off the table.

Quantum computing is becoming a popular investment theme in the market, but there’s just one problem: It’s still a few years away from commercial relevance. This makes it nearly impossible to predict which company will be a major winner in this field. Adding to the difficulty of quantum computing investing is that the technology is incredibly complicated and can be difficult to understand. However, not investing in quantum computing could be a massive mistake for your portfolio’s future returns.

So, what should investors do? One advantage investors can get in this investment sector is looking at which competitors have strong backers. Amazon (AMZN -0.61%) is one tech giant that is investing in this space and is backing one of the leading pure plays: IonQ (IONQ -3.92%). This gives IonQ a vote of confidence from one of the biggest companies in the world, making IonQ an intriguing stock to invest in.

Amazon owns a small amount of IonQ

We know that Amazon is investing in IonQ from its Form 13F, which informs investors what other stock holdings Amazon has because its investment portfolio is greater than $100 million. As of its last report filed for Q2 holdings, Amazon holds nine stocks, with IonQ being one of them.

Amazon holds just over 850,000 shares of IonQ. While that may sound like a lot, that’s only about 0.3% of IonQ’s total shares outstanding. So, Amazon isn’t a controlling party in IonQ; it’s just an investor like you and me (although it has a lot more capital than you and me).

Just because Amazon doesn’t own 10% or so of the company doesn’t mean this isn’t an insignificant investment. Amazon clearly likes what it saw, and with Amazon having more technical prowess than the average investor, I think this makes IonQ an intriguing quantum computing investment.

One thing that sets IonQ apart from its competitors is the path it’s taking. While most quantum computing players are using superconducting technology, which requires cooling a particle to nearly absolute zero, IonQ uses a trapped-ion approach, which can be performed at room temperature. Furthermore, the trapped-ion technique is inherently more accurate than superconducting, which is a trade-off for slower processing speeds.

Because the biggest hurdle in quantum computing technology is accuracy, I think IonQ is one of the more compelling investment options right now, as it is the leader in this category, holding two world records.

This makes IonQ my top option in the quantum computing investment world. But is the stock worth buying right now?

An investment in IonQ will be volatile

IonQ has had an incredible run over the past few months as quantum computing investing has risen in popularity. The stock is up around 90% since the start of September, which is a massive movement considering that we’re still years away from viable quantum computing technology.

Most companies in this realm point toward 2030 as the turning point for quantum computing adoption, and IonQ is no different. Earlier this year, IonQ’s CEO Peter Chapman gave investors the projection that the company will be profitable with sales approaching $1 billion by 2030. That’s still five years away, which is a long time to wait and hold the stock to see if IonQ is an eventual winner in the quantum computing arms race.

With how much attention quantum computing has gotten in recent weeks, it’s impossible to tell where the stocks involved in this sector will head. It’s possible that there is a quantum computing investing mania ongoing, and the stocks continue to rise at an irrational pace.

It’s also possible that the stock could be ripe for a sell-off, especially after the past few weeks of strong gains. However, as long-term investors, we need to avoid that noise. If you’re buying IonQ stock now, you need to have the mindset of buying and holding through at least 2030, regardless of what the roller coaster ride of the stock market is like.

If you’re confident in IonQ, buying today makes sense, but your measure of success cannot be the stock price; it must be the company’s announcements. If IonQ wins the quantum computing arms race, the stock will be a winner over the long term, but keep in mind that it will be incredibly volatile along the way.

Quantum computing investing is not an easy field to pick stocks in. There’s a lot of complex knowledge needed to understand the technology, making it hard for investors to discern which company is currently leading the way. Furthermore, the space is rapidly shifting, with new announcements occurring every week that change the landscape.

This makes it difficult to be a quantum computing investor, but I think there is a way to spread out the risk a bit and still have exposure to this important and emerging space. By taking a basket approach and picking a few stocks, investors can increase their odds of success by sacrificing maximum return for a better chance of success. I think this is the best way to approach quantum computing, and I’ve got five picks that help make up a quantum computing basket.

Image source: Getty Images.

Quantum computing pure plays

First, let’s look at some pure plays in this space. These companies are the most exciting, as they’re relatively small but have the chance to turn into giant tech companies if their technology is successful.

First is IonQ (IONQ -5.85%). It was the first quantum computing pure play company to go public, and has seen tremendous success over the past year. It’s taking a unique approach to the quantum computing realm, utilizing a trapped-ion technology versus the more popular superconducting option.

A trapped-ion quantum computer is inherently more accurate, but trades off processing speed. Still, with quantum computing accuracy being the biggest problem surrounding widespread commercial adoption, investing in a company whose technology is a leader in solving this problem is a wise idea.

Next is Rigetti Computing (RGTI 0.39%). Rigetti is deploying the superconducting quantum computing approach and has seen some recent successes with it. On Sept. 30, Rigetti announced the sale of two quantum computing systems that totaled $5.7 million.

While that’s not the billion-dollar enterprise many investors picture this technology having, it’s a start. Furthermore, because these customers likely explored other quantum computing options available, it’s a big deal that they decided to pick Rigetti over some others.

Last on the pure play list is D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 4.13%). D-Wave Quantum is taking a completely different approach to quantum computing than IonQ or Rigetti. It’s developing a quantum annealing computer, which can’t be used for general-purpose computing like the other two options. Instead, quantum annealing focuses on solving optimization problems, which is incredibly useful for weather patterns, logistics networks, and artificial intelligence (AI) training.

If D-Wave can develop a winning option with this approach, it could dominate the fields that are recognized as having the most value for quantum computing.

Legacy tech players

Next are some legacy tech players competing in the quantum computing space. While these options don’t have nearly the upside of the pure plays, they’re also less risky. If IonQ, D-Wave, or Rigetti fail to produce a commercially viable product, it’s likely that their stock will go to zero. For Alphabet (GOOG 2.17%) (GOOGL 2.23%) and Nvidia (NVDA -0.17%), they have other primary businesses that will ensure their viability for years to come.

Alphabet is seen as a leader in quantum computing from the big tech standpoint. It’s developing quantum computing for internal use, but also to be rented out via its cloud computing service, Google Cloud. If Alphabet can develop its own quantum computer in-house, it can increase its margins in this area, as it won’t have to pay for other companies’ profits, as it does when it buys Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) now. Alphabet has resources that the pure play companies can only dream about, and in a trend that needs heavy capital influx to develop the product, Alphabet could be a huge winner.

Last is Nvidia. Nvidia currently produces the most powerful classical computing units available, and has no plans to develop a quantum computing option. However, Nvidia sees that the real value in quantum computing will be a hybrid approach that uses its GPUs alongside a quantum computing unit. To ensure its hardware is used in this hybrid approach, Nvidia is evolving its leading software, CUDA, for quantum computing, renaming it CUDA-Q.

CUDA software is a primary reason why Nvidia has been so successful in the AI arms race so far, and by offering a quantum computing alternative, it will ensure that its computing products will be used for years to come, even if quantum computing takes the world by storm.

With shares up 2,500% over the last 12 months, Quantum Computing (QUBT 1.49%) is sure to attract the attention of growth-focused investors. The stock is surging based on industrywide optimism. But is this rally driven by fundamentals or hype? Let’s dig deeper into the pros and cons of Quantum Computing, also known as QCi, to decide if the shares are a solid long-term buy.

What is special about quantum computing?

Quantum computing is a branch of computer science and physics that aims to create devices capable of solving the world’s most difficult problems exponentially faster than today’s fastest supercomputers. And we aren’t talking 30 minutes faster; we are talking over a million years faster. If the technology works, it will allow humans to do things that were previously impossible with current technology.

It doesn’t take a supercomputer to see the vast commercial opportunities that viable quantum computers could unlock. Analysts expect them to help rapidly discover new pharmaceutical drug candidates and chemical structures, and even help train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Quantum Computing (QCi) aims to position itself on the picks-and-shovels side of this opportunity, supplying hardware products like chips, sensors, and communication devices. It also claims to have the first of its kind foundry for processing thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), a next-generation material useful for advanced telecommunication platforms.

QCi’s TFLN foundry is located in Tempe, Arizona, and its made-in-America approach could attract government support amid the accelerating technology arms race between the U.S. and China.

But what about the fundamentals?

While cutting-edge technologies often sound exciting, it is essential to remember that they won’t always translate to commercial success, especially in the near term. Furthermore, the start-ups with the most valuable patents and processes are often acquired by larger companies or kept private to maximize returns for their owners. So when small speculative companies like QCi go public, it’s important to ask why.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company’s second-quarter earnings report gives some clues about the pressure it is under. Revenue collapsed 67% year over year to just $61,000 (that’s less than the median annual salary of a U.S. tech worker). Meanwhile, operating costs are spiraling out of control, with research and development more than doubling to $5.98 million.

As a speculative tech company, QCi probably can’t trim its research and development outflows too much without risking falling behind other players in the industry. And it is important to note that quantum computing is shaping up to be a competitive arena, with tech giants like Alphabet and Nvidia also aiming to establish themselves in the picks-and-shovels niche. These larger, well-capitalized companies will be able to spend more on research and leverage larger supply chains.

Is Quantum Computing a millionaire-maker stock?

QCi is clearly under a lot of pressure because of its minuscule revenue, heavy losses, and the pressure to keep up its research spending. By going public, management now has the ability to raise more money by creating and selling more units of its own stock. While this strategy keeps the business afloat, it can hurt existing shareholders by diluting their ownership stake in the company and their claim on its future profits.

In August, QCi announced a $500 million share offering, which increased its share count by a jaw-dropping 26.9 million. And the company already has 159,883,187 shares outstanding as of the second quarter. Expect this number to continue expanding over time.

While QCi could potentially be a millionaire-maker stock in the right conditions, the risks far outweigh the rewards right now. And fundamentals-focused investors should look for better opportunities.

For the better part of the last three years, seemingly nothing has sparked investor interest quite like the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). Empowering software and systems with the tools to make split-second decisions without human intervention, as well as to become more proficient at their tasks over time, is viewed as a game-changing technology for most industries around the globe.

Over the last three decades, there’s pretty much always been a next-big-thing trend or technology to captivate the attention and capital of Wall Street and investors. Prior to AI, there was the advent of the internet, genome decoding, nanotechnology, 3D printing, blockchain technology, and the metaverse, to a name a few key trends.

But in rare instances of outsize optimism on Wall Street, two or more game-changing trends can coexist, as we’re witnessing now with the dual rise of AI and quantum computing.

Image source: Getty Images.

The four biggest pure-play quantum computing stocks — IonQ (IONQ 0.46%), Rigetti Computing (RGTI 5.30%), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 2.00%), and Quantum Computing (QUBT -0.81%) — have rallied between 700% to 5,130%, respectively, over the trailing year (as of Oct. 3). Though optimism is readily apparent, there’s no denying that the time to be fearful when others are greedy has arrived for these four stocks.

What is quantum computing, and why are investors so excited about it?

Quantum computing relies on quantum mechanics to solve complex problems that traditional computers can’t do. What makes quantum computing so exciting is its many real-world possibilities.

For example, quantum computers can be used to run simulations to determine how molecules would behave. These interactions can be quantified to narrow best courses of actions when developing drugs and targeting hard-to-treat diseases. Think of it as genome decoding that’s been ramped up to improve the likelihood of success when developing novel therapies.

Quantum computers can also be deployed to vastly improve cybersecurity solutions. This technology can potentially break existing encryption methods and lead to the development of quantum-resistant solutions that create lock-tight protections for cloud-based systems and end users.

But perhaps the most exciting aspect of quantum computing is what it might be able to do for the AI revolution. Quantum computers can speed up the process by which AI algorithms help software and systems “learn” and become more proficient at their tasks. Training large language models could occur significantly faster with quantum-capable solutions.

Based on one of Wall Street’s lofty estimates, which comes courtesy of Boston Consulting Group, quantum computing can create between $450 billion and $850 billion in global economic value 15 years from now. This high-ceiling estimate corresponds with substantial forward-year sales growth forecasts for the aforementioned pure-play quantum computing stocks:

• IonQ: projected sales growth of 87% in 2026
• Rigetti Computing: projected sales growth of 161% in 2026
• D-Wave Quantum: projected sales growth of 56% in 2026
• Quantum Computing: projected sales growth of 412% in 2026

Though optimism is through the roof, billionaire Warren Buffett’s famous investing advice rings loud: “Be greedy when others are fearful, and be fearful when others are greedy.”

Image source: Getty Images.

The time to be fearful with quantum computing stocks is here

Berkshire Hathaway‘s billionaire boss Warren Buffett has absolutely crushed the benchmark S&P 500 over six decades by sticking to this ethos. He pounces when fear creates advantageous price dislocations and sits on his proverbial hands (or sells shares of existing holdings) when valuations no longer make sense. This latter scenario encompasses the need to be fearful when others are being greedy.

There’s no denying that, on paper, quantum computing offers a compelling long-term growth story. The possibility of improving drug development, cybersecurity, supply chains, financial modeling, and AI algorithms, among other use cases, offers intrigue.

But there’s also a long list of reasons why, if you own shares of IonQ, Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, and/or Quantum Computing, cashing in some or all of your chips right now makes complete sense.

To begin with, history hasn’t exactly been kind to game-changing technologies in their early expansion phase. Looking back more than 30 years, there hasn’t been a next-big-thing trend that’s avoided an eventual bubble-bursting event. Put in another context, investors and businesses have repeatedly overestimated the early stage adoption rate and/or utility of these newer technologies, leading to eventual disappointment.

While I’ve made this same argument with AI, it rings 100 times truer when it comes to quantum computing. Whereas AI hardware is flying off the proverbial shelf, and Wall Street’s most-influential businesses are eagerly deploying AI solutions, quantum computing utility is still very minimal. All the hallmarks of a bubble are firmly in place.

Secondly, these four pure-play stocks are all losing money hand over fist on an operating basis and aren’t particularly close to demonstrating their operating models are viable. Through the first-half of 2025, IonQ’s operating loss more than doubled to $236.3 million from the prior-year period, while Rigetti Computing’s operating loss jumped 27%.

IONQ PS Ratio data by YCharts.

To expand on this point, all four pure-play stocks are valued at price-to-sales (P/S) ratios that absolutely scream “bubble!” Companies on the leading edge of prior next-big-thing trends peaked at P/S ratios ranging from 30 to 40, with a little wiggle room in each direction. The trailing-12-month P/S ratios of Wall Street’s four quantum computing superstars are:

• IonQ: 319
• Rigetti Computing: 1,282.2
• D-Wave Quantum: 375.6
• Quantum Computing: 11,612.3

In no universe do the multibillion-dollar valuations currently assigned to these four stocks justify the relative pittance in continuous sales they’re generating. It’s another sign of a seemingly imminent bubble-bursting event.

The final reason investors should be fearful with these pure-play quantum computing stocks is because the “Magnificent Seven” have deeper pockets and an inside edge to the infrastructure that can fuel an eventual quantum computing revolution. Although companies like IonQ have landed meaningful partnerships, Mag-7 companies have the ability to aggressively spend on quantum computing solutions that may eventually lessen the need for hardware and software solutions from companies like IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing.

Oct. 7 (UPI) — Three U.S.-based scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for their work in quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale, the Nobel Foundation announced Tuesday.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded British-born John Clarke (University of California, Berkeley), French-born Michel H. Devoret (Yale University and UC Santa Barbara) and American John M. Martinis (UC Santa Barbara) the prestigious award. It comes with a $1.17 million prize the three men will split evenly.

The scientists are being recognized for creating an electrical circuit system large enough to be held in the hand that demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunneling and quantized energy levels, or specific, measurable amounts of energy.

Tunneling is the ability for particles to move through a barrier. Once a large number of particles are involved, they’re typically unable to move through this barrier, also called a Josephson junction.

“The laureates’ experiments demonstrated that quantum mechanical properties can be made concrete on a macroscopic scale,” a release from the Nobel Foundation said.

Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, applauded the work by the three scientists.

“It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises,” he said. “It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation for all digital technology.”

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

This year’s winners of the prize, John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis, are based in the United States.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis for quantum mechanic tunnelling.

“This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors,” the prize-awarding body said in a statement.

The three winners are based in the United States.

The Nobel physics prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and includes a prize sum totalling 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million) that is shared among the winners if there are several, as is often the case.

Past winners of the Nobel physics prize include some of the most influential figures in the history of science, such as Albert Einstein, Pierre and Marie Curie, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, a pioneer of quantum theory.

This is a developing news story…

Over the past few years, investors have witnessed in real time how breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked a new revolution in the technology sector. The next frontier — quantum computing — promises an even greater leap forward, unlocking efficiency and solving problems that strain the limits of today’s classical machines.

Together, the fusion of AI and quantum computing is expected to create trillions of dollars in economic value over the coming decades. While many companies are dabbling in quantum systems at the margins, two of the industry’s most influential players are already weaving this emerging capability into their broader strategies.

Let’s explore how Nvidia (NVDA -0.62%) and Alphabet (GOOG 0.55%) (GOOGL 0.61%) are positioning themselves to remain leaders at the cutting edge of AI’s next transformation.

Nvidia: GPUs, CUDA, and infrastructure

Nvidia’s rise throughout the AI revolution is deeply rooted in its dominance of the GPU market, where its chips have become the backbone of generative AI development. What investors may not fully realize yet is that the company’s ambitions extend beyond supplying accelerators to train large language models (LLMs). Quietly, Nvidia has been laying the groundwork for a prominent role in the quantum era.

A key part of this strategy is Nvidia’s software architecture, CUDA. CUDA includes tools designed to bridge classical computing systems with quantum-inspired research. At the moment, Nvidia’s CUDA quantum (CUDA-Q) platform is used by a number of academic institutions, as well as integrated with existing developers such as IonQ and Rigetti Computing.

This is a savvy move, as Nvidia is doing all of this without committing massive capital expenditures (capex) to build quantum machines from scratch. Instead, the company is positioning itself as the connective backbone across both hardware and software supporting the next wave of advanced computing applications.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet: Willow, Cirq, and DeepMind

Alphabet has carved more direct inroads into quantum computing through its Google Quantum division.

A central focus is Willow, a processor built to scale quantum workloads more efficiently. To drive adoption, Alphabet introduced Cirq — an open-source software framework that enables developers to design quantum algorithms and run them directly on Google’s infrastructure. The company’s internal research lab, DeepMind, adds another dimension that gives Alphabet the unique advantage to test quantum technologies in-house and refine them at a faster pace.

What makes this approach so compelling is that Alphabet weaves these efforts into a vertically integrated stack. The company’s hardware, software, and research converge within a single ecosystem — allowing emerging services like Google Cloud and Gemini to compete from a position of strength against entrenched rivals like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Are Nvidia and Alphabet good buys right now?

Nvidia and Alphabet are each building durable platforms optimized for the next phase of advanced computing.

For Nvidia, the company’s GPUs and CUDA architecture are already indispensable to AI infrastructure. Moreover, the company’s collaborations in quantum computing create additional tailwinds across both hardware and software for the data centers of tomorrow. Meanwhile, Alphabet is stitching quantum into a broader, diversified ecosystem that spans processors, software frameworks, cloud distribution, and research.

For both companies, quantum computing is not the ultimate destination, but rather a strategic layer that reinforces their long-term growth prospects — positioning each as resilient, differentiated platform businesses in an increasingly competitive landscape.

I think that each company’s early bets on quantum computing will look shrewd in hindsight as these applications evolve from research-driven environments into real-world value creation.

For investors with patience, owning shares of both Nvidia and Alphabet today offers exposure to two businesses not just benefiting from the AI boom, but actively writing the narrative of its next chapter. For these reasons, I see both stocks as no-brainer opportunities right now.

Quantum computing isn’t as well known as artificial intelligence (AI), but a small group of these stocks has generated astounding returns in just a year or two.

These companies are trying to build and commercialize the next innovation of the computer. Instead of using bits, the most basic unit of digital information and the foundational component of the computer, quantum computers use qubits that can process data in much more complex ways, allowing these machines to compute much more complicated equations.

If researchers are correct, quantum computers will be able to play instrumental roles in developing new and more effective drugs and tackling some of the biggest problems in society like climate change, which would obviously send these stocks to multiples of what they are today. While there is still much to achieve and certainly associated risks, here are two quantum computing stocks up at least 2,200% to throw $200 at.

Image source: Getty Images.

Rigetti Computing: Up 2,847% in past year

Yes, you read that correctly: Rigetti Computing (RGTI 0.52%) is up over 2,800% (at the time of this writing) in just one year. Perhaps due to the artificial intelligence revolution, investors have noticed the quantum computing space and started to believe these machines are not only possible, but can live up to the hype.

To really understand how quantum computers work, you need to be well versed in quantum mechanics, but Rigetti builds its machines in house with superconducting qubit-based quantum processors that are highly scalable and offer both fast gate times and fast program execution times. In July, Rigetti announced that its 36-qubit system had achieved 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity, which is a strong measure of accuracy. The company also said this system achieved a 2 times reduction in its median 2-qubit gate error rate from its previous best results.

Rigetti believes these results will pave the way for it to build and release a quantum computer with over 100 qubits (the more qubits, the more powerful the system) and similar accuracy before the end of the year.

Rigetti also just announced that it has been awarded a three-year contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory for $5.8 million. Rigetti will partner with a Dutch quantum start-up to work on developing advanced superconducting quantum networking, which would essentially be the next evolution of the internet with capabilities that could include functions like sending communication that can’t be hacked.

While Rigetti has a high ceiling, investors should understand that the company still makes very little in revenue, is losing money, and trades at a $7.8 billion market cap. So if things don’t go as planned or quantum computers turn out to be difficult to develop or do not live up to the hype, the stock could get hit hard.

D-Wave Quantum: Up 2,278% in past year

D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 0.51%) is another quantum computing stock that has been a moonshot over the past year. D-Wave differs from others in the quantum computing space because it uses annealing quantum computing technology, which uses concepts from quantum physics to identify the most precise solution in a more energy-efficient manner.

In a J.P. Morgan report on quantum computing, analysts praised D-Wave’s Advantage2 prototype, which has over 1,200 qubits with 20-way connectivity, and a goal to eventually build a system with 7,000 qubits.

“This prototype claims significant speedups over classical supercomputers,” the report said. “Developed with a lower-noise, multilayer superconducting integrated circuit fabrication stack, the Advantage2 prototype demonstrates substantial performance gains on hard optimization problems, such as spin glasses, and shows improved performance on constraint satisfaction problems. … However, (D-Wave’s) approach is limited to specific problem types, and they face debates about the broader applicability of quantum annealing.”

Clearly, the potential for D-Wave is there and it could even stand out in a standout industry. But like Rigetti, the company still doesn’t have much revenue and is reporting losses, while trading at a $7.85 billion market cap.

Investing is all about trying to predict the future before it becomes the present, so I understand to some degree why investors are gung-ho about quantum computing. But investing is also about future risk management. That’s why I still only recommend a smaller, more speculative position in quantum computing stocks, whether that’s a few hundred dollars or a few thousand. It all depends on your specific financial profile.

Point — counterpoint.

Last week, I highlighted the astounding share price rise of quantum computing company D-Wave Quantum (QBTS -5.84%), which gained a terrific 52% over the course of the week, ending with a nearly 12% rise on Friday alone. Unimpressed, I argued that in the absence of real revenue and profits, D-Wave Quantum looked like a “speculative” investment good only for “momentum traders” — and warned that “serious investors should probably stay away.”

On Monday, D-Wave stock is tumbling — down 6.7% through 10 a.m. ET — and it kind of looks like I was right to warn investors to steer clear of the profitless quantum computing stock.

But what if I was wrong?

Image source: Getty Images.

B. Riley loves D-Wave Quantum stock

That’s the question we need to consider after investment bank B. Riley raised its price target on D-Wave Quantum stock by an aggressive 50%, to $33 per share.

According to the bank’s analyst, quantum “technology and commercial progress is outpacing B. Riley’s prior positive views.” As TheFly.com reports, the Department of Energy’s National Labs in particular are pushing companies to develop commercial quantum computing products, and as a result, the “former frontier technology is rapidly advancing toward integrated capability and commerciality.”

Is D-Wave stock a sell?

So the government wants commercial quantum computing. Great. That does not mean it will get it. What’s (still) missing from B. Riley’s positive write-up are hard numbers suggesting D-Wave Quantum will enjoy significant revenue or any profits in the near future.

D-Wave stock now trades at an insane 412 times trailing revenue. And even valued on optimistic analyst estimates from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock trades at 28 times the revenue it might (or might not) collect way out in 2030 — and 1,701 times its projected 2030 earnings.

Even momentum traders should be scared of numbers like these.

Quantum computing is emerging as the next big investment trend, although we’re still a few years out from seeing commercially viable quantum computing. As a result, investors are wondering what the best approach to quantum computing is.

There are publicly traded quantum computing investments, like IonQ (IONQ 5.39%), that have massive upside if they work out. However, they also come with big risks if their technology isn’t adopted. Multiple big tech companies are also involved in the quantum computing arms race, like Alphabet (GOOG 1.27%) (GOOGL 1.23%). These companies have nearly unlimited resources compared to the start-ups, but don’t have near the upside. This makes them safer picks, but investors might be worried they’re leaving too much potential on the table by not taking some risk.

So, between the two, which is the best quantum computing investment right now?

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors must pay a premium for IonQ

There is a significant size difference between the two companies. Alphabet is a tech behemoth with a market cap of $2.9 trillion, while IonQ is a comparatively small $17 billion company. However, despite Alphabet’s size, the stock is far cheaper than IonQ. Let me explain.

Currently, IonQ isn’t making a ton of money. It’s relying on various research partnerships and contracts that it has signed to generate revenue. In Q2, it recognized revenue of $21 million, which is a rounding error compared to Alphabet’s results. Alphabet generated $96.4 billion in revenue during Q2, making IonQ’s revenue 0.0218% of Alphabet’s total. That’s a huge difference.

With Alphabet, you’re paying about 8 times sales for the stock, or for every dollar of sales over 12 months, you’re paying $8. IonQ trades for 242 times sales, so it’s quite a bit more expensive.

GOOG PS Ratio data by YCharts

This mismatch is because the market is far more excited about IonQ’s future than Alphabet’s. Should both companies develop commercially relevant quantum computing systems, the effect it will have on each company’s growth is quite different. For Alphabet, it will likely contribute a few extra percentage points each quarter. For IonQ, a major system sale could cause its revenue to double or triple year over year. That explosive growth is what excites investors the most with IonQ, although it’s far from guaranteed.

Buying both stocks allows investors to balance risk

There’s no guarantee that the approach Alphabet or IonQ is taking will be a winning one. There may be a hidden flaw in each company’s design that doesn’t appear for a few years, which could eliminate them from contention in the quantum computing arms race.

While this would be disappointing for Alphabet, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would continue down its path of AI dominance and also thrive on the advertising revenue generated by the Google search engine.

Unfortunately, if this happens to IonQ, the stock would likely go to $0, losing investors a ton of money. This scenario is probably more likely for IonQ than quantum computing success, and investors must be aware of this risk.

So, which one is the better buy? I’d say if you’re afraid of a stock going to zero, then IonQ is one to avoid, and Alphabet is more attractive. However, I think there’s a better approach. By devoting no more than 1% of your portfolio positioning to a quantum computing long shot like IonQ, you can capture some of the upside if it makes it big while limiting downside risk. Additionally, by purchasing shares of Alphabet to balance this risk out, investors can get two impressive quantum computing plays. This basket approach is a smart way to invest in an emerging field like quantum computing, as it balances out risk by investing in multiple companies.

Shares of eponymous quantum computing company Quantum Computing (QUBT 21.20%) are soaring for a fourth straight day Friday, up 22.2% through 9:55 a.m. ET and on course to end the week up closer to 32%.

You can thank the friendly analysts at Lake Street Capital Markets for that.

Image source: Getty Images.

What Lake Street says about Quantum Computing

In a note released yesterday — which may not have gotten all the attention it deserved, seeing that Quantum Computing stock gained only 3.6% yesterday — Lake Street analyst Maxwell Michaelis initiated coverage with a buy rating and a price target of $24, reports StreetInsider.com.

Although admitting that “quantum computing is still in its early stages,” Michaelis calls Quantum Computing stock “a compelling way to participate in the rapidly growing market,” and argues Quantum Computing Inc. has a “first-mover advantage” and “a long runway for growth.”

Is Quantum Computing stock a buy?

It shouldn’t take too long to figure out if Michaelis is right about that. The analyst hinges his buy recommendation on a prediction that Quantum Computing’s revenue will rise dramatically in 2026 and 2027, and any such surge in revenue should be very easy to spot.

Because so far, Quantum Computing has almost no revenue at all. In all of last year, the company collected just $373,000 in revenue (yes, thousand). It’s collected only $100,000 so far this year, too, so revenue right now looks set to fall by half in 2025. To me, this makes Quantum Computing stock look more like a sell than a buy, and I worry its recent stock gains are driven more by traders chasing momentum than by long-term investors.

But tune in again 12 months from now, and we’ll see who was right.

Quantum computing is a major emerging technology that could be commercially viable by 2030. With that timeframe not all that far away, investors are starting to take quantum computing stocks more seriously. Several stocks in this industry have the potential to make investors a fortune if they can grow from startups to dominant tech companies, but there’s no guarantee they can achieve that. Several established players are pursuing quantum computing. While these don’t have nearly the upside as their smaller counterparts, they are much safer bets.

I believe taking a balanced approach to the quantum computing arms race is a smart investment move, and these four stocks represent a great way to capitalize on this massive trend while also leveraging current market conditions.

Image source: Getty Images.

The startups: IonQ and D-Wave Quantum

Investing in quantum computing startups is an attractive option. Often, these companies are worth about $10 billion or less, but could grow to become far greater if their technology stack becomes the go-to option in the quantum computing realm, much like Nvidia‘s (NVDA 0.43%) GPUs have in the artificial intelligence (AI) realm. However, it’s possible that their technology doesn’t work out, and the stocks go to $0. This is likely to happen to many competitors in the quantum computing race, as several techniques are likely to yield unsatisfactory results compared to other technologies.

Two of my favorite pure-play quantum computing companies are IonQ (IONQ 18.36%) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 7.66%). Both companies are taking two separate approaches to quantum computing, which helps spread out risk.

IonQ employs a trapped-ion approach, which represents the most accurate quantum computing technology currently available and can also be implemented at room temperature, making it significantly more cost-effective. However, this comes at the cost of processing speed, which is slower compared to other options.

D-Wave Quantum utilizes quantum annealing, making it particularly well-suited for optimization problems, such as mapping logistics networks. Quantum annealing has a more limited use case than general-purpose quantum computers, such as those developed by IonQ. Still, it could be a viable technology that yields real results in areas that can benefit from quantum computing.

Success isn’t guaranteed with either of these investments, which is why balancing their risk with surefire bets is a smart idea.

Big tech players: Alphabet and Nvidia

It would be a mistake for investors to move on too quickly from the AI investing trend. There are still truckloads of money being spent on AI computing capabilities, and that isn’t slated to slow down anytime soon. This benefits Nvidia more than any other company, but Nvidia is also getting involved in the quantum computing industry.

While Nvidia isn’t developing its own quantum processing unit, it is developing the technology that enables quantum computers to be integrated into traditional computing systems, such as those it manufactures. This hybrid computing approach is likely to become the primary use case of quantum computing. With Nvidia bridging the gap, it is poised to capitalize on this industry while also excelling in AI.

Another big player in the quantum computing space is Alphabet (GOOG 0.27%) (GOOGL 0.22%). Alphabet kicked off a major quantum computing investment rush in December 2024 when it announced that its Willow quantum computing chip completed a calculation that would have taken a traditional computer 10 septillion years (10 to the 25th power) to complete. This was a major breakthrough for Alphabet, but it’s still a long way away from developing a commercially viable quantum computing system.

However, if it can be the first cloud computing provider to offer a viable quantum computing system, it stands to make a ton of money from various quantum computing workloads that will appear over the next decade.

In the meantime, Alphabet has a dominant base business and is starting to emerge as the leading AI company. This combination will make Alphabet a fantastic investment over the next few years.

This combination of four quantum computing investments is a great way to capitalize on the trend. It allows investors to balance the risk of pure-play quantum computing investments that may not survive with established big tech players that are benefiting from current market trends and also have quantum computing investments.

IBM‘s (IBM -1.34%) efforts to capitalize on the rise of generative AI aren’t its only big bet on future technology. Alongside this, the company has also been investing heavily in quantum computing.

Quantum computing utilizes quantum mechanics to solve complex problems more quickly than classical computers. The potential use cases of this technology are extensive, including applications in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, drug development, and even areas like sustainable energy and traffic optimization.

However, with the perception that this catalyst, at best, will only start to positively impact performance many years from now, investors don’t seem all that interested in “Big Blue’s quantum leap” right now.

Instead, what’s top of mind among them right now is whether increased spending on AI infrastructure is coming at the expense of IBM’s other product and service offerings, which may result in lower-than-expected overall growth for the company.

Still, does this mean it’s better to “watch and wait” with this stock right now? Not necessarily. Instead, this dynamic may start to shift.

Image source: Getty Images.

IBM makes more quantum progress, but investors are unimpressed

Up until recently, news related to IBM’s quantum computing catalyst would elicit a positive reaction from the market. For example, back in June, the stock surged when the company announced plans to have the world’s first “large-scale, fault-tolerant supercomputer” on the market by the end of this decade.

A “fault-tolerant” quantum supercomputer monitors and self-corrects errors at the component level, to prevent the system from producing faulty calculations. This is important, since a high error incidence rate has been a key reason why quantum computing, despite being many decades in the making, has yet to go mainstream.

Now, however, further news regarding IBM’s quantum catalyst hasn’t seemed to excite investors all that much. On Aug. 26, IBM and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.91%) announced that they would collaborate on quantum computing, with AMD providing the chips needed to power IBM’s quantum supercomputer.

However, while the stock has moved higher since this announcement, the gains have been modest at best. Admittedly, this makes some sense, given other events that have transpired over the past few months.

Software uncertainty limited a post-earnings recovery

A month prior to this latest major quantum computing announcement, the market reacted negatively to IBM’s latest quarterly earnings release. Overall, the company beat on both revenue and earnings for the quarter ended June 30. Strong demand for AI-specialized mainframes resulted in better-than-expected revenue for IBM’s infrastructure segment, with revenue of $4.14 billion beating forecasts calling for $3.81 billion in revenue.

Yet while robust demand for AI infrastructure led to an earnings beat, the market placed greater focus on a negative aspect of the earnings release: weaker-than-expected software sales. Software makes up the majority of the company’s overall sales, with this segment representing around 43.5% overall revenue during Q2 2025.

The software sales miss was relatively minor, $7.39 billion compared to $7.41 billion expected, and was mainly due to flat transaction processing software sales. However, the concern remains that, as macro uncertainty persists, companies continue to invest in AI infrastructure, but are reducing expenditures in areas like enterprise software.

Hence, uncertainty about whether this trend will continue in Q3 and beyond is the likely culprit behind IBM’s modest post-earnings rebound. Still, with shares trending higher, albeit slowly, perhaps the market is starting to appreciate the company’s AI and quantum computing catalysts, as well as other promising areas like IBM’s consulting and hybrid cloud businesses.

Quantum computing, other growth catalysts, could drive a further rebound

As noted by CEO Arvind Krishna in prepared remarks released alongside Q2 2025 earnings, AI is driving growth across multiple IBM segments, including within the software segment, as well as in segments like consulting.

As a result, IBM’s total “AI book of business,” consisting of both sales and bookings, continues to grow at a rapid clip. Last quarter, this “book of business” totaled $7.5 billion, up $1.5 billion, or 25%, versus the previous quarter. Also, don’t forget that AI is not the only near-term growth driver for the company.

Earlier, I briefly mentioned IBM’s hybrid cloud business, made up primarily by the company’s Red Hat software unit. During the second quarter, Red Hat sales grew 16% year over year, up from 12% during Q1 2025. This could be the prelude to further growth acceleration in the coming quarters.

As for the “quantum catalyst”? The big payoff may be years in the making, but another major update could be just around the corner. Later this year, IBM and AMD plan to hold a public demonstration of how IBM supercomputers, powered by AMD chips, could deliver hybrid quantum-classical workflows.

Progress in these areas could lead to higher prices for the stock, as the market once again appreciates how IBM is shedding its past “tech dinosaur” image. IBM’s operating margins increased from 13.7% to 14.5% last quarter, and could be en route to rehit levels above 20%, a level of profitability not seen for more than a decade.

While IBM’s stock has surged in value over the past two years thanks to this long-term transformation, further upside may be on the table. Currently trading for around 21.5 times forward earnings, shares remain undervalued compared to other tech giants investing heavily in AI, like Meta Platforms and Microsoft, which trade for between 25 and 35 times forward earnings, respectively.

With all of this in mind, I would consider IBM worth buying at this stage of the rebound.

Over the past few years, Nvidia has cemented its position as the undisputed leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are more than just hardware — they serve as the foundation of a tightly integrated ecosystem built on the CUDA programming architecture.

CUDA transformed Nvidia’s chips from a commoditized product into a comprehensive infrastructure layer for AI developers. Simply put, if you want to train high-quality AI models, chances are you’re doing it with Nvidia’s hardware and software.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet (GOOGL -0.31%) (GOOG -0.35%) may be charting a similar path in quantum computing. Through a series of strategic moves in recent years, the company is laying the groundwork to become the Nvidia of quantum platforms.

Building the hardware foundation like Nvidia’s GPUs

Nvidia’s GPUs were the gateway for developing the CUDA framework. Alphabet’s parallel effort on the hardware side centers on its tensor processing units (TPUs) and its research into superconducting quantum processors (i.e. Willow). While TPUs are not quantum devices, they highlight Google’s capability to design custom silicon tailored for new, increasingly sophisticated computational needs.

The company’s Sycamore processor — which demonstrated quantum supremacy in 2019 — provided a proof-of-concept that its approach to building quantum hardware was viable. Since then, Alphabet has poured years of investment into refining its AI and quantum stacks — assembling the engineering talent and technological expertise to iterate on architectures until they achieve practical utility.

Much like Nvidia’s cycle of GPU innovation, Alphabet is positioning itself to develop successive generations of quantum processors that can be paired with proprietary systems and software — creating an integrated ecosystem just as Nvidia has.

Cirq could be Alphabet’s version of CUDA

Hardware alone rarely creates a durable moat. Nvidia’s true competitive advantage comes from its one-two punch of GPUs and CUDA. This combination has created a powerful lock-in effect, making the switching costs to competing platforms — even those with lower upfront investment — extremely steep. Once developers build and optimize their models on CUDA, abandoning Nvidia’s walled garden becomes almost unthinkable.

Alphabet is pursuing a similar strategy in quantum computing, though with a different design philosophy. Its analogue to CUDA is Cirq — an open-source quantum programming framework the lets developers build and run applications across multiple backends. Unlike CUDA, Cirq does not tie developers exclusively to Google’s hardware. In fact, platforms such as Microsoft Azure and IonQ already integrate with Cirq, underscoring its interoperability.

Paradoxically, this openness may strengthen Alphabet’s position. By fostering a larger community of developers who become fluent in Cirq — even outside of Google’s hardware stack — the company is ensuring that when its own quantum applications reach commercial scale, an ever-growing developer base is already aligned with its tools.

In other words, while Nvidia’s moat is supported by tight integration, Alphabet is cultivating an ecosystem anchored in accessibility and collaboration — an open framework that could become just as sticky, but drawing developers in voluntarily rather than lock-in.

DeepMind: The path to unlock valuation expansion

While CUDA has been the foundation of Nvidia’s dominance, the company’s success ultimately hinged on widespread external adoption and validation by developers.

Alphabet, by contrast, already controls one of the world’s premier AI research labs — DeepMind — which gives it a built-in feedback loop to stress-test its quantum algorithms, refine Cirq, and push next-generation processors like Willow forward more quickly.

This vertical integration across research, hardware, and software mirrors the Nvidia GPU-CUDA dynamic that made it indispensable to AI development. Nvidia’s ecosystem has translated into years of explosive revenue growth, expanding profit margins, and record valuation expansion.

NVDA Market Cap data by YCharts

Alphabet appears to be deploying a similar playbook — but adapted for the quantum era. Instead of a closed system, Alphabet is building an open, yet sticky, ecosystem designed to attract developers by choice and create a powerful gravitational pull around its platform.

For investors, the takeaway is clear. As AI workloads grow more complex and quantum computing inches closer to real-world utility, Alphabet is positioned to drive and monetize this shift at scale.

Long-term investors should view Alphabet not just as a leader of today’s technology landscape, but one that is at the forefront of the next frontier of AI. I think that buying and holding Alphabet stock offers exposure to a potential Nvidia-like return over the next several years.

Sept. 5 (UPI) — The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea came together in Seoul this week, then in Tokyo Friday, for two Trilateral Quantum Cooperation meetings, the State Department said.

The meetings were to recognize the value of trilateral cooperation to strengthen and secure emerging technologies, a press release said. Experts from government and industry met to share best practices and discuss how to protect quantum ecosystems from physical, cyber, and intellectual property threats.

“Our trilateral partnership helps ensure Americans can benefit from the breakthroughs in quantum computing that have the potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionize the way we live and work. These workshops highlighted the growing importance of trilateral cooperation in safeguarding innovation and strengthening the quantum ecosystem, which has the promise of increasing human flourishing and the economic prosperity of Americans and our partners,” said a press release from the State Department’s spokesperson.

In August, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung reflected on the partnership after having met President Donald Trump.

“The golden era is yet to come, not because we lack something, but [because] possibilities are endless,” Lee said, describing future cooperation.

He said Japan can’t be left out of this equation, as trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo will be essential to address North Korea and drive technological innovation.

Likely to help in quantum computing is new deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce Paul Dabbar. He was the president and CEO of Bohr Quantum Technology before his Senate confirmation. He led the development and deployment of emerging quantum network technologies while at Bohr.

North Korea announced in 2019 that it intends to adopt quantum computing for economic development. NK Economy reported quantum computers are being highlighted in the Korean Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

Quantum computing and its lower toll on the power grid — relative to supercomputers — could hold appeal for North Korea.

Rolling blackouts and power outages are common in the country, according to defectors and former residents of the country.

The hot field of quantum computing catapulted the stocks of several companies in the space. Examples include IonQ (IONQ -3.04%) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS -2.24%). The former’s share price is up over 400% and the latter more than 1,000% in the last year through the week ending Aug. 29.

But of the businesses racing to produce quantum computers capable of adoption beyond research circles, Nvidia (NVDA -3.12%) stands out. Several factors contribute to its position as a top quantum computing stock to consider right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Nvidia is a compelling quantum computer stock

Nvidia is known as the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor chip leader. But as it looks toward the future, the company is working to evolve its tech for the quantum era. For example, it’s developing a core processing unit that works in a quantum computer.

In addition, Nvidia is opening a research center that will house “the most powerful hardware ever deployed for quantum computing applications,” according to the company. The center aims to solve challenges inherent in quantum devices, such as their propensity to make computational mistakes.

Beyond its tech, another factor making Nvidia a compelling quantum computer stock is the company’s outstanding financial health. While IonQ and D-Wave aren’t profitable, Nvidia’s net income was $26.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter (ended July 27), a 59% increase over the previous year. It also generated $13.5 billion in Q2 free cash flow, providing funds to invest in quantum technology.

Moreover, Nvidia shares possess a superior valuation among quantum computer stocks such as IonQ and D-Wave. This can be seen in the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of the companies.

Data by YCharts.

The chart shows that IonQ and D-Wave’s sales multiples skyrocketed over the last year, making Nvidia the lowest among the trio by a wide margin. This suggests IonQ and D-Wave stocks are overpriced.

With its better valuation, technological advancements, and strong financial standing, Nvidia emerges as an attractive investment in quantum computing.

D-Wave Quantum‘s (QBTS -1.82%) stock surged more than 1,480% over the past 12 months. That explosive rally, which lifted it from its all-time lows, was driven by the market’s growing enthusiasm for quantum computing stocks.

But with a market cap of $5.4 billion, it trades at a whopping 222 times this year’s sales and 142 times next year’s sales. Should investors still buy D-Wave’s stock and expect it to grow into those nosebleed valuations? Let’s review its business model, upcoming catalysts, and challenges to decide.

Image source: Getty Images.

What does D-Wave Quantum do?

Traditional computers still store their data in binary bits of zeros and ones. Quantum computers can store those zeros and ones simultaneously in qubits, which lets them process larger quantities of data at a much faster rate than their traditional counterparts.

Yet quantum computing systems are also larger, pricier, and consume a lot more power than traditional servers and mainframes. That’s why they’re still mainly used for niche research projects at universities and government agencies instead of mainstream computing applications.

D-Wave could change that perception with its quantum annealing tools, which are used to streamline a company’s workflows, supply chains, and logistics networks. It runs those processes through different scenarios, and it identifies the processes that consume the least power as the most efficient ones. In other words, it’s a quantum-powered “efficiency expert” that maps out multiple outcomes faster than traditional analytics tools.

D-Wave designs its own quantum processing units (QPUs) and Advantage quantum systems to support those services. It also provides those services remotely through its cloud-based Leap platform, which can be integrated into public cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

More than 100 major customers — including Deloitte, Mastercard, Volkswagen, Lockheed Martin, and Accenture — are already using D-Wave’s services. However, most of those customers are still running its low-revenue pilot and research programs on Leap instead of using its tools to overhaul their businesses.

How fast is D-Wave growing?

D-Wave still generates most of its revenue by selling its Advantage quantum systems, but those sales cycles are long and unpredictable. That’s why its sales surged in 2022 and 2023, flatlined in 2024 as its system sales stalled out, but surged again in the first half of 2025.

Data source: D-Wave Quantum. YOY = Year-over-year.

However, its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stayed negative as its net losses widened. Like most of its quantum computing peers, it’s expected to stay unprofitable for the foreseeable future as it scales up its business.

For 2025, analysts expect D-Wave’s revenue to surge 178% to $24.6 million. A lot of that growth will be driven by the rollout of its new 4,400 qubit Advantage2 quantum system, which solves 3D lattice problems roughly 25,000 times faster than its first-gen system while consuming less power. Its rising sales of those systems should reduce its dependence on its cloud-based services. Analysts expect D-Wave’s revenue to rise 56% to $38.3 million in 2026, and increase another 85% to $71 million in 2027. We should take those estimates with a grain of salt, but they imply that it can eventually grow into its frothy valuations.

Is it the right time to buy D-Wave’s stock?

D-Wave’s stock is expensive. It will likely keep diluting its investors with more stock offerings as long as it remains unprofitable, and it’s unclear if it can keep selling enough Advantage2 systems (which cost $20-$40 million each) for economies of scale to kick in. But in the long run, D-Wave’s focus on mainstream computing applications could give it an edge against other quantum computing companies that focus on experimental applications. So while I certainly wouldn’t invest my life savings in D-Wave’s stock, I’d be willing to nibble on it today and accumulate more shares if it successfully expands its fledgling business.