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Rigetti Computing

RGTI
The quantum computing bet↑
Our rating
hold
12-month target
$12.71 +19.1%
Expected vs. S&P 500
+0.6 ptsSee the math
Next earnings
Nov 10In 5 days

Rigetti's 108-qubit machine makes over four times the two-qubit errors of its 9-qubit chip, and its 1,000-qubit goal slid from end-2027 to "roughly three years" from August.

Summary

Rigetti builds superconducting quantum computers by linking small 9-qubit chips, made in its own factory, into bigger machines. Most revenue now comes from selling those small chips to labs, with research contracts making up most of the rest. Bigger machines have proved harder: the 108-qubit system launched a quarter late and short of its accuracy target, and dated goals have given way to looser ones. The stock depends on Rigetti keeping accuracy high at scale, because only accurate large machines can do work worth paying much for.

$11.09
-$28.03 (-71.65%)Past year
What Rigetti Computing does

Rigetti builds superconducting quantum computers from small chips it makes in its own factory, Fab-1. It sells chips and machines to research labs and does paid research for governments, and it loses money.2,3,7

What it sells

  • Quantum computer sales75% of revenue, first half 2026

    Mostly 9-qubit Novera chips that labs plug into their own cooling systems, plus full on-site machines like a 108-qubit system for India.

  • Research contracts24% of revenue, first half 2026

    Paid development work for government agencies and partners, such as an Air Force quantum networking project. It was most of revenue until 2026.

  • Cloud access1.5% of revenue, first half 2026

    Time on its machines, sold through its own cloud and through Amazon, Microsoft and qBraid. Tiny today, but it is the long-term prize.

Who buys it

Universities, national labs and governments. Government agencies were 90% of 2025 revenue but only 22% in the first half of 2026, as labs like the University of Saskatchewan bought chips. A handful of customers make up most sales.

Where you've seen it

On Amazon Braket and Microsoft Azure Quantum, where anyone with a cloud account can rent time on its 108-qubit machine.

How the business makes money

The backstory

In late 2025 Rigetti promised a 100-plus-qubit system at 99.5% two-qubit accuracy by year-end, then 150-plus qubits by end-2026 and 1,000-plus by end-2027. In January it delayed the 108-qubit machine, citing trouble with the couplers that connect qubits, and it launched in spring at about 99.1%. Accuracy decides everything, because errors pile up across a calculation. Rigetti is redesigning its chips and selling small systems to labs while it works.

Rigetti earns money today by selling small chips and research work to labs. The large prize, selling time on accurate machines with hundreds of qubits, depends on keeping accuracy high as it links more chips together.1,2,3,4,5,7

  1. 1 · Cost edgeOwn factoryRigetti designs and makes its superconducting chips in Fab-1, so it can change a design and test it without an outside foundry.
  2. 2 · ScalingChipletsIt tiles 9-qubit chiplets into bigger processors: four made its 36-qubit system and twelve its 108-qubit one. At 108 qubits, coupler problems cost accuracy.
  3. 3 · Revenue nowLab salesMeanwhile it sells single Novera chips and full systems to labs that want hardware on site, such as India's C-DAC.
  4. 4 · FundingResearch contractsGovernment and partner contracts pay for part of the development work, though the revenue is small and lumpy.
  5. 5 · PayoffUseful machinesIf accuracy holds as machines grow, they can beat classical computers on real problems, and cloud and system sales could grow many times over.

Advantages

Years of cash and no debt

Major advantage

Rigetti's biggest advantage, because it buys time to fix accuracy. It raised $350M selling shares at about $11.55 in 2025, when quantum stocks soared. Operations and equipment used about $48M in the first half of 2026, so the cash lasts years.2,3

Its own chip factory

Strong advantage

Strong, though no longer unique. Owning Fab-1 let Rigetti redesign the 108-qubit chip in-house after its delay instead of waiting on a foundry. IonQ bought the SkyWater foundry in 2026 to get the same control.3,5,17

Government money tied to milestones

Supporting

Helpful, but conditional. The Commerce award pays out in three tranches, starting with $43.9M, for compact control electronics, a larger cooling system and denser chip wiring. The government can demand repayment if Rigetti misses required work.8

Fast operations

Supporting

Useful, but shared with IBM and Google. Superconducting qubits run operations in 50 to 70 billionths of a second, which Rigetti says is thousands of times faster than trapped-ion machines like IonQ's. Speed only pays once accuracy is high enough.1

What's changing

A slower roadmap, backed by Washington

Rigetti stopped repeating its end-2026 and end-2027 dates this year. In August it set a goal of about 1,000 qubits at 99.9% accuracy in "roughly three years" and promised a revised roadmap. It made CTO David Rivas chief operating officer and promoted chip engineer Andrew Bestwick to CTO. In September it signed a $100M Commerce award and gave the government 7.7M shares at $12.92; the stock now trades below that.1,7,6,8,9,16,22

Competitors

Who else an investor would consider, and how they compare.

CompanyMarket valueWhat it doesCompared with Rigetti Computing
Rigetti Computingthis stock
$3.70B
Rigetti builds superconducting quantum computers from small chips it makes in its own factory, Fab-1. It sells chips and machines to research labs and does paid research for governments, and it loses money.
Google Quantum AI (Alphabet)GOOGL
$3.88T
Builds superconducting chips like Rigetti's, funded by Alphabet, with no need to sell machines yet.Same technology; Google's 105-qubit Willow makes about a seventh as many errors.19
IBMIBM—Superconducting quantum computers offered through its cloud and on-site systems to companies and labs.IBM funds quantum from other businesses and targets error correction by 2029.20
IonQIONQ—Trapped-ion quantum computers plus networking and chip-making businesses it bought, sold to governments and companies.IonQ expects over ten times Rigetti's 2026 revenue; Rigetti's qubits run far faster.17,1
D-Wave QuantumQBTS—Annealing machines that solve scheduling-type problems, sold mostly as cloud subscriptions, plus gate-model research.D-Wave mostly sells cloud time; Rigetti mostly sells hardware to research labs.18