Rigetti Computing (RGTI) stock surged more than 8% in Wednesday’s pre-market trading session after the company announced the general availability of its 108-qubit quantum computing system, Cepheus-1-108. Shares of the quantum computing company have declined more than 37% year-to-date, but are still up 66% over the past year. Meanwhile, shares of peers IonQ (IONQ) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) jumped 8% and 11%, respectively, in pre-market trading. Quantum computing stocks also gained from the news of a ceasefire in Iran.
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New trading tool for QBTS bullsA shift away from risky assets to safer bets amid macro uncertainty and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East has weighed on the year-to-date performance of quantum computing stocks.
Rigetti Announces General Availability of Cepheus-1-108
Rigetti Computing said that customers and partners can now access Cepheus-1-108Q through the Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) Platform and via Amazon Braket, a quantum computing service offered by Amazon’s (AMZN) AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud unit.
The company highlighted that Cepheus-1-108Q is its highest qubit-count system to date and the industry’s largest modular quantum computing system, powered by the company’s proprietary chiplet-based architecture.
Notably, Cepheus-1-108Q comprises 12 interconnected 9-qubit chiplets, with three times as many qubits and chiplets as the previous 36-qubit system (Cepheus-1-36Q). It is currently performing at a 99.1% median two-qubit gate fidelity, with Rigetti focused on improving the system’s performance throughout 2026 as the company advances on its roadmap.
On Tuesday, Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered his price target for Rigetti Computing stock to $33 from $43 and reaffirmed a Buy rating. The 5-star analyst also reiterated a Buy rating on D-Wave Quantum and IONQ but lowered the price targets to $31 from $40 and $61 from $80, respectively. Rakesh noted that quantum computing companies are in “early stages of an inflection.” While the analyst remains optimistic about the long-term prospects of quantum computing stocks and sees over 100% upside potential, he lowered his price targets to reflect growing competition and higher spending by all the leading players.
Is RGTI a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Amid growing interest in quantum computing and optimism about long-term prospects, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Rigetti Computing stock based on eight Buys and two Holds. The average RGTI stock price target of $32.63 indicates 136% upside potential.
