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D-Wave Quantum logo
QBTS.NYSE
D-Wave Quantum
Information Technology · Electronic Equipment & Instruments

Quantum computing company commercializing annealing and gate-model quantum systems, software, and enterprise quantum applications.

HQ: United StatesListed: United States

Historical AI Consensus

Audit every published iPulse AI forecast batch and immutable historical research document for D-Wave Quantum.

Historical AI Consensus

This page preserves the research and market snapshot packaged for this batch. It is not updated with later prices or revised advisor outputs.

Symbol
QBTS.NYSE
Batch
7
Published
September 20, 2026
AI Advisors
14

Historical AI Consensus Investment Thesis

D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) Stock Forecast and AI Rating

Deep analysis published Original pricing snapshot 12 min read
Published 1-Year and 5-Year Forecast Outlook

Forecast targets and rating

Published batch rating

SELL ALL

Calculated from the frozen synthesized path using the same return, horizon, volatility and dividend rules as individual opinions.

2027

1-Year

SELL ALL

$13

-26.5%
2031

5-Year

SELL ALL

$5.71

-66.6%

Published batch insight

Extreme Valuation Multiples Face Severe Contraction Amidst Chronic Operational Cash Burn

There is high consensus across reports that an unsustainable gap exists between multi-billion-dollar market capitalization and single-digit quarterly revenue. While enterprise optimization contracts and dual-platform innovation provide vital baseline support, relentless operational cash burn and multiple compression dominate the long-term outlook.

Deep Forecast Analysis by iPulse AI Engine

This analysis preserves the original published batch. Audit published forecasts in full transparency

Sherlock Holmes (Whistleblower) advisor portraitMichael Burry (Vulture) advisor portraitJ.P. Morgan (Titan) advisor portraitUniversal Investor (Polymath) advisor portraitWarren Buffett (Value Purist) advisor portraitSuperintelligence (Anthropologist) advisor portraitElon Musk (Visionary) advisor portraitMachiavelli (Insider) advisor portraitRay Dalio (Strategist) advisor portrait

Sherlock Holmes (Whistleblower), Michael Burry (Vulture), J.P. Morgan (Titan), Universal Investor (Polymath), Warren Buffett (Value Purist), Superintelligence (Anthropologist), Elon Musk (Visionary), Machiavelli (Insider), Ray Dalio (Strategist). Some archetypes run in multiple modes, resulting in 14 advisors total.

Computed on these frontier AI models
Gemini AI model logoGeminiClaude AI model logoClaudeChatGPT AI model logoChatGPT

Full published thesis

Executive Summary

If you invested $10,000 in D-Wave Quantum at the forecast anchor (2026-09-18): $3,336 in five years versus $13,892 for S&P 500 benchmark.

Five-year synthesized consensus forecast for D-Wave QuantumThe diagram shows the synthesized consensus value path for D-Wave Quantum, forecast milestones, and a comparison with S&P 500 benchmark. excluding any dividend yield adjustment.$10,000$20,000$3,336 (-66.6%)$13,892 (+38.9%)Anchor2026-09-182027(1Y)2028(2Y)2029(3Y)2030(4Y)2031(5Y)
D-Wave Quantum · Synthesized ConsensusS&P 500 benchmark
Figure: Five-year synthesized consensus value path for D-Wave Quantum compared with S&P 500 benchmark. The path uses the synthesizer’s normalized opinion weights.
20-quarter synthesized forecastPrice targets, quarterly returns and the reasoning behind each step

Frozen forecast from 18 Sept 2026. Prices in USD; returns exclude dividends. Each quarter is compounded from the previous quarter.

Anchor: 17.11 USD1-year price return: -26.51%5-year price return: -66.64%

Swipe the table horizontally to read every column.

Twenty quarterly synthesized price forecasts in USD, with returns and rationale
QuarterTarget (USD)Quarter returnTotal returnForecast rationale
Q4 202614.99-12.41%-12.41%Restrictive monetary policy and elevated sovereign yields penalize speculative tech multiples. Sluggish third-quarter revenue prints and government share-resale overhang trigger institutional multiple compression, outweighing excitement over year-end installations.
Q1 202714.37-4.12%-16.02%Full revenue recognition from completed university annealing system deliveries generates a sharp headline revenue spike. Speculative short-covering triggers a relief rally despite persistent underlying operational losses.
Q2 202713.66-4.91%-20.14%First-quarter results reveal severe sequential revenue contraction following one-off hardware deliveries. Escalating dual-platform research expenses widen operating deficits, puncturing turnaround optimism and restarting equity de-rating.
Q3 202712.57-7.98%-26.51%Management activates equity shelf facilities to fund cryogenic research, inducing dilution anxiety. Prolonged enterprise IT sales cycles delay bookings conversion, accelerating valuation multiple compression toward software benchmarks.
Q4 202711.74-6.67%-31.41%Tax-loss harvesting and elevated capital costs pressure non-earning deep tech. Enterprise clients evaluate classical computing alternatives, slowing recurring cloud subscription growth and driving institutional portfolio liquidation.
Q1 202810.97-6.50%-35.87%Full-year filings confirm annual cash burn exceeding one hundred million dollars without commensurate revenue expansion. Sell-side analysts trim long-term targets as persistent multiple compression overpowers incremental customer wins.
Q2 202810.57-3.69%-38.23%Technical milestones in dual-rail gate prototyping spark speculative trading enthusiasm. Momentum buyers bid shares upward on universal computing optionality, though near-term cash generation remains fundamentally absent.
Q3 20289.46-10.47%-44.70%Advancements in classical GPU optimization algorithms directly challenge annealing speedup claims on benchmark logistics problems. Slower contract conversions re-expose the business to multiple de-rating across secondary markets.
Q4 20288.87-6.21%-48.14%Dilution from active equity issuance facilities increases common share supply, depressing per-share metrics. High operating overhead and cryogenic laboratory expenses reinforce broad investor preference for cash-generative technology leaders.
Q1 20298.55-3.64%-50.02%Delivery of an on-premises system to a European research consortium creates a temporary revenue pulse. Technical validation supports a transient rebound, though recurring cloud margins remain structurally constrained.
Q2 20298.09-5.36%-52.70%Post-delivery revenue drops back to baseline services run-rates while dual-platform fabrication outlays escalate. Investors refocus on terminal share dilution, pushing quoted equity values through prior technical support.
Q3 20297.70-4.81%-54.98%Persistent nine-figure operating deficits force management to prioritize cost rationalization. Slower R&D spending extends gate-model development horizons, prompting growth-oriented momentum funds to reduce long-term capital allocations.
Q4 20297.17-6.93%-58.10%Sustained high benchmark rates maintain upward pressure on hurdle rates for unmonetized technology assets. Thin holiday trading liquidity and ongoing share-count expansion cause steady valuation drift lower.
Q1 20306.89-3.83%-59.70%Disclosures reveal annual sales struggling to scale past thirty million dollars against massive cumulative losses. Speculative premiums continue deflating as market participants revalue the firm toward tangible net assets.
Q2 20306.79-1.54%-60.32%Commercial rollout of next-generation high-density annealing processors sparks an oversold technical relief bounce. Niche industrial logistics customers renew hybrid cloud solvers, providing temporary sentiment and volume support.
Q3 20306.33-6.69%-62.98%Universal gate-model breakthroughs from well-capitalized tech titans crowd out enterprise exploratory budgets. Annealing platform pricing power faces erosion, restarting systematic multiple contraction toward specialized hardware multiples.
Q4 20306.08-4.00%-64.46%Year-end tax-loss selling compounds pressure as institutional funds eliminate lingering non-profitable holdings. Shareholder equity continues absorbing dilution from historical equity shelf operations and employee stock compensation.
Q1 20315.92-2.62%-65.39%Annual financial statements show gradual recurring cloud revenue gains offset by extensive historical share-count expansion. Trading activity reflects valuation fatigue, with shares settling near underlying net cash backing.
Q2 20315.88-0.77%-65.65%Narrowing quarterly operational burn and steady federal research support establish preliminary fundamental price discovery. Value-oriented deep-tech specialists accumulate shares around tangible asset floors, stabilizing trading volatility.
Q3 20315.71-2.87%-66.64%Valuation reaches terminal equilibrium on normalized hardware and cloud subscription revenues. The multi-year de-rating cycle concludes, leaving the equity priced on tangible operating cash generation rather than speculative promises.

The base-case investment thesis identifies an acute, structural discrepancy between market valuation and commercial monetization. Trading at roughly five hundred times trailing revenue, the equity discounts flawless multi-decade execution that commercial reality cannot validate. While quantum annealing demonstrates practical utility in combinatorial optimization and the dual-rail acquisition expands universal gate optionality, recognized quarterly revenue remains stuck near three million dollars. Parallel development of two capital-intensive architectures accelerates annual operating cash burn past one hundred million dollars, creating persistent reliance on equity financing facilities. Valuation sensitivity is extreme under restrictive monetary conditions. Elevated discount rates ruthlessly punish distant, unmonetized cash flows, while classical computing advances continuously narrow the commercial quantum performance advantage. The strongest counterargument rests on sovereign defense mandates and non-dilutive federal capital, which could alleviate balance-sheet strain and validate specialized hardware moats.

Key insights

  • Lumpy on-premises capital-equipment shipments create deceptive revenue surges that mask stagnant underlying recurring cloud software subscriptions across corporate enterprise cohorts.
  • Dual-platform development structurally doubles cryogenic research and development overhead, ensuring persistent operating deficits that outpace incremental gross profit expansion.
  • Sustained capital consumption guarantees compounding share-count expansion, permanently diluting per-share economic claims regardless of absolute technological or roadmap milestones.

Deep Dive

The prevailing crowd narrative views the company as an elite commercial quantum leader transitioning from experimental science into exponential market dominance. Retail investors and momentum funds fixate on surging gross bookings announcements, sovereign defense grants, and artificial intelligence compute narratives. This optimism assumes multi-billion-dollar addressable markets are imminent, treating current cash reserves as proof of solvency while ignoring microscopic trailing revenues.