QBTS: Federal And Canadian Quantum Support Will Drive Dual-Platform Execution

Analysts have adjusted the D-Wave Quantum price target to $35 from about $36.84, reflecting updated views on higher revenue growth assumptions, slightly lower profit margin expectations, and a reduced future P/E multiple.

Analyst Commentary

Recent research on D-Wave Quantum shows a mix of enthusiasm for the company’s position in quantum computing and caution around execution, valuation, and the pace of commercial progress. Price targets cluster around US$30 to US$40, which frames how analysts are thinking about risk and reward for the stock.

Bullish Takeaways

• Bullish analysts highlight D-Wave Quantum as a quantum computing company with existing commercial revenue streams, which they see as important for justifying premium valuation multiples in an early stage sector.
• Several research notes point to meaningful Q2 technological and commercial progress, including growth in QCaaS activity and a larger system sale pipeline, which they view as supportive of the long term growth narrative.
• Some analysts describe D-Wave Quantum as well positioned for commercial success due to an early mover position and a dual technology approach, which they believe can help the company address more use cases as the market develops.
• Coverage initiations and reinstatements across the sector describe quantum computing as an area where a portfolio approach may make sense, and D-Wave Quantum is consistently included among the stocks these analysts see as key exposures.

Bearish Takeaways

• Bearish analysts point to recent revenue outcomes that they describe as more modest, including a Q2 miss versus expectations, which raises questions about the timing and consistency of revenue scaling relative to current valuation.
• Some price target cuts are tied to broader market valuation resets, which suggests sensitivity of D-Wave Quantum’s implied multiples to shifts in risk appetite and sector comparables even when operational commentary is positive.
• Analysts caution that the quantum computing sector remains early, with no clear winning technology yet. This adds modality risk to D-Wave Quantum’s long term execution story and may justify more conservative P/E or P/S assumptions.
• Certain research notes highlight the need for companies in this space, including D-Wave Quantum, to transition from capital intensive R&D projects into more efficient and scalable businesses. Until that transition is clearer, some investors may hesitate to ascribe higher valuation multiples.

What’s in the News for D-Wave Quantum

• D-Wave Quantum reported Q2 2026 earnings with revenue of US$3.1 million that did not meet Wall Street expectations, while first half bookings grew by a very large 1,120% and created a record order backlog tied to customers such as Florida University, a Fortune 100 company, AT&T and Optum. Source, recent Q2 2026 earnings coverage.
• Management highlighted customers moving from proof of concept into production deployments and pointed to expectations for stronger Q4 revenue as backlog converts into sales. Commentators also flagged higher operating expenses and a high P/S multiple as reasons investors are watching conversion of bookings to revenue closely. Source, recent Q2 2026 earnings coverage.
• NTT DOCOMO deployed a second production application using D-Wave Quantum technology to optimize mobile network tracking area lists, reporting a 65.3% cut in peak location registration signals and a 7.0% reduction in paging signals, with quantum optimization runs taking about five minutes and feeding directly into commercial network planning tools. Source, NTT DOCOMO deployment reports.
• D-Wave Quantum received up to C$300,000 in funding from Canada’s National Research Council to develop next generation software and graph minor embedding algorithms for its Advantage2 annealing systems, which will be added to the open source Ocean SDK and are aimed at larger optimization problems in areas such as logistics, manufacturing and scheduling. Source, National Research Council of Canada announcement.
• The company appointed Kevan P. Krysler, a seasoned technology finance executive, to its Board of Directors and Audit Committee to add public company financial and governance experience as D-Wave Quantum advances its dual platform quantum computing strategy. Source, board appointment announcement.

Valuation Changes for D-Wave Quantum

• Fair Value has moved from $36.84 to $35.24, which reflects a modest reduction in the updated model output.
• Discount Rate is now 8.54%, compared with 8.54% previously, which represents a very small upward adjustment in required return assumptions.
• Revenue Growth is now set at 152.93% compared with 140.70% in the prior model, indicating that higher future growth expectations are being used in the updated estimates.
• Net Profit Margin has shifted from 12.11% to 11.44%, which points to slightly lower assumed profitability over time for D-Wave Quantum.
• Future P/E multiple has been reduced from 1,015.56x to 877.92x, which still implies a high earnings multiple but on a lower basis than before.