Rigetti Computing Stock (RGTI): Buy the Dip Before Earnings or Brace for Volatility?
Quantum computing play Rigetti Computing (RGTI) faces a make-or-break earnings report—will its hardware roadmap justify the speculative frenzy?
Wall Street's quantum fever dreams meet reality this week as Rigetti reports. Either those qubit error rates are dropping... or this trade decoheres faster than a quantum state.
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Rigetti uses superconducting qubits that require extremely low temperatures to maintain quantum states. This sets it apart from IonQ’s trapped-ion technology and D-Wave’s quantum annealing approach. RGTI stock has surged 121% year-to-date and 2,121% over the past 12 months, driven by new commercial deals and rising investor confidence in Rigetti’s quantum technology.
Expectations from Rigetti Computing
Wall Street expects Rigetti to post a narrower Q3 loss of $0.05 per share, compared to $0.08 per share posted in the comparative prior year period. Meanwhile, sales are forecasted to decline 8.8% year-over-year to $2.17 million, down from $2.38 million reported in Q3FY24.
Notably, RGTI has missed analysts’ earnings expectations in six of the past eight quarters. Quantum computing companies like Rigetti are prioritizing innovation and scalability over immediate profits, channeling substantial resources into accelerated product development, strategic acquisitions, and expansion across both government and enterprise sectors, which drives up operating expenses.
Rigetti builds superconducting quantum chips and the hardware and software needed to run them. It was among the first companies to offer a complete quantum computing system and now provides a cloud platform, Quantum Cloud Services (QCS), where developers can create and test quantum algorithms online.
What Analysts Are Saying About Rigetti
Rigetti has earned mixed analyst reactions ahead of its Q3 print. Raymond James and B. Riley Securities analyst Craig Ellis downgraded RGTI stock from a “Buy” rating to “Hold,” though he raised his price target from $35 to $42, implying 24.4% upside potential. His caution stems from delays in U.S. government funding that could impact sales, as well as concerns that after this year’s sharp rally, much of the stock’s future potential may already be priced in.
Conversely, Needham analyst Quinn Bolton maintained his “Buy” rating, while boosting the price target from $18 to a new Street-high of $51, implying 51% upside potential. Bolton called Rigetti’s $5.8 million three-year contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the sale of two 9-qubit Novera systems for $5.7 million as major milestones in the company’s commercialization milestones.
Is RGTI Stock a Good Investment?
On TipRanks, RGTI stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on five Buys and two Hold ratings. The average Rigetti Computing price target of $32 implies 5.2% downside potential from current levels.
