Quantum Leap: Rigetti shares pop after multichip quantum computer demonstration

Welcome to the latest edition of “Quantum Leap” where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.

TWO-QUBIT GATE FIDELITY: Rigetti Computing (RGTI) has achieved its mid-year performance milestone of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on its modular 36-qubit system, a 2x reduction in median two-qubit gate error rate from Rigetti’s previous best results on its 84-qubit single chip Ankaa-3 system. Composed of four 9-qubit chips tiled together, the 36-qubit system is based on Rigetti’s proprietary modular chip technology and unlocks the company’s path to building a 100+ qubit chiplet-based system. Rigetti plans to launch its 36-qubit system on August 15 and remains on track to release its 100+ qubit chiplet-based system at 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity before the end of 2025. Alliance Global Partners raised the firm’s price target on Rigetti to $18 from $16 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares. The firm believes Rigetti is on the path to scaling well beyond 100 qubits. Shares are up 29%. “We benefit from the many advantages of superconducting qubits, including gate speeds more than 1,000x faster than other modalities like ion trap and pure atoms, and scalability. By leveraging well-known techniques from the semiconductor industry, we’ve developed proprietary technology that we believe is critical to enable scaling to higher qubit count systems,” says Subodh Kulkarni, Rigetti CEO. “We look forward to sharing more updates when we release our operating results for the second quarter of 2025.”

BANK ORDER: Quantum Computing (QUBT) has secured a purchase order from a U.S. Bank for the company’s quantum communication system, at a purchase value of approximately $332,000. The sale marks the company’s first U.S. commercial sale of its quantum cybersecurity solutions. QCi’s quantum communication systems generate, distribute, and detect entangled photons at telecom wavelengths in compact, rack-mountable devices. The system will serve as the cornerstone of a secure, air-gapped quantum security testbed within the bank’s newly established Cybersecurity Quantum Optics Lab. In addition to hardware delivery, the order includes professional services and extended warranty coverage. Pouya Dianat, chief revenue officer of QCi added, “This order from a major financial institution is an important step forward for the broader adoption of quantum technologies in enterprise environments. It underscores the relevance of QCi’s technologies in the cybersecurity space and positions QCi as a key player in quantum-secured infrastructure development for high-impact industries.”

HIGH CAPACITY MODELS: Quantum (QMCO) announced two new high-capacity models in its all-flash DXi T-Series data protection line: the DXi T-10-240 and DXi T-10-480. As the industry’s first 1U high-performance deduplication appliances with up to 480 TB of raw NVMe capacity, these systems enable customers to protect more data in less space, delivering faster backups, ultra-rapid data recovery, and significant reductions in rack space, power usage, and management complexity. The DXi T-10-240 and T-10-480 are purpose-built for high-performance environments that don’t require full-scale data center infrastructure. “Customers have adopted our all-flash DXi appliances because recovery speed is critical when every minute counts during a cyber event,” said Sanam Mittal, general manager of DXi at Quantum. “With the DXi T-10-240 and T-10-480, we’ve quadrupled the usable capacity of our T-Series offerings in the same 1U footprint while preserving affordability and flexibility through software-based capacity activation. This is a breakthrough in efficient, high-performance backup operations.”

REGISTERED DIRECT OFFERING: Sealsq (LAES) entered into a securities purchase agreement with several institutional investors to purchase 15M ordinary shares and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 30M ordinary shares at a combined purchase price of $4.00 per ordinary share and accompanying warrants, representing a premium of about 10% to Sealsq’s closing stock price on July 11. The warrants will have an exercise price of $4.60 per ordinary share, will be immediately exercisable, and will expire seven years following the date of issuance. Gross proceeds for the offering are expected to be approximately $60M, before deducting commissions and offering expenses. The offering will be led by Heights Capital Management. Maxim Group is acting as the sole placement agent for the offering. Sealsq currently intends to utilize the net proceeds from the offering to reinforce its already strong cash position, allowing the company to accelerate its post-quantum and quantum commercialization roadmap and deployment in the United States. The offering is expected to close on or about July 15, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

ANALYST COMMENTARY: BofA told investors in a research note that quantum could be the biggest revolution for humanity since discovering fire. The firm characterized it as a technology that can perform endless complex calculations in zero-time, warp-speeding human knowledge and development. BofA contends that adoption is now being driven by:

• Tech advancements
• Large economic opportunity
• The quantum and generative AI combo
• Changes in all encryption and cyber defenses
• Vast government interests driving investment

Processing power, the backbone of technology, is led by the U.S., the firm argued. Quantum can level the tech playing field and reset everything, according to the firm. Whoever wins the “quantum race” will gain an unprecedented geopolitical, technological and economic advantage, BofA concluded. Government quantum funding announcements add up to over $42B, of which 35% has been made by China.