If You’d Invested $1,000 in D-Wave Quantum Stock 3 Years Ago, Here’s the Jaw-Dropping Result

Quantum computing's rollercoaster ride leaves traditional investors dizzy

The $1,000 Quantum Gamble

Three years back, dropping a grand on D-Wave seemed like either genius or madness. Quantum computing promised to revolutionize everything from drug discovery to financial modeling—if it could escape the lab.

Market Forces vs. Quantum Forces

While traditional stocks worried about interest rates, D-Wave battled quantum decoherence and skeptical physicists. The company's stock chart looks more like quantum superposition than a steady growth curve.

Wall Street's Quantum Headache

Analysts still can't decide if quantum stocks belong in tech portfolios or science fiction sections. Meanwhile, D-Wave keeps signing government contracts that make blockchain deals look like lemonade stands.

The final tally? Let's just say your returns would be simultaneously up and down until you check your brokerage account—Schrödinger's investment at its finest.

Image source: Getty Images.

Comparative investment returns

Over three years, D-Wave Quantum's shares gained 313.5%. The company doesn't pay dividends, so that doesn't factor into the return calculation.

The stock's performance easily bested the S&P 500's 79.9%,'s (^IXIC 0.44%) 106.9%, and's 45.7% returns.

The last two indexes are relevant benchmarks for D-Wave, given that the Nasdaq Composite includes many technology companies and the stock's $9 billion market capitalization puts it in the mid-cap category.

Translating these returns into dollar figures, at the end of three years, your $1,000 investment in D-Wave's stock would've resulted in $4,135. That same investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $1,799. A passive investment in the Nasdaq Composite or S&P MidCap 400 index would've resulted in $2,069 and $1,457, respectively.

Where does D-Wave go from here?

D-Wave Quantum doesn't report a profit under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It lost $167.3 million in Q2, wider than the $17.8 million loss a year ago. The company also doesn't have much revenue, reporting just $3.1 million in the latest period.

Since the company doesn't report a profit, investors can't use the price-to-earnings ratio as a valuation metric. Turning to the price-to-sales ratio, D-Wave's stock sells at an eye-popping 298 times.

That's a very richly valued company with scant revenue and no earnings.