Rigetti Computing Faces Challenges Amid Market Decline
Rigetti Computing Inc's stock has dropped 3.05% and hit a 20-day low, reflecting broader market weakness as the Nasdaq-100 is down 2.26% and the S&P 500 is down 1.40%.
Despite Rigetti's impressive growth of 137.1% over the past five years, recent concerns about its future prospects have led to a significant decline in its stock price. The company has faced challenges such as a net loss of $351 million and limited market demand for its quantum computing technology, which has contributed to investor caution. The current market environment, characterized by high inflation and a bear market, has further exacerbated the situation, leading to a drop in Rigetti's stock value.
The implications of these developments suggest that Rigetti's future remains uncertain, and investors may need to reassess their positions in light of the company's financial struggles and the overall market conditions.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Analyst Views on RGTI
About RGTI
About the author

- Market Performance Review: Rigetti Computing's stock has risen by 17.96% over the past year, yet it is currently trading over 60% below its 2025 peak, indicating investor concerns about its future prospects and the need for careful risk assessment.
- Technical Competition Analysis: Rigetti's 108-qubit system boasts impressive gate speeds of 50-70 nanoseconds; however, its median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99% lags behind competitors like IonQ, which achieves 99.99%, highlighting the urgent need for technological improvements.
- Future Development Goals: Rigetti aims to develop a 1,000-qubit system by 2027 with a target fidelity of 99.7%, but this still falls short compared to IonQ's ambitions, and the commercial viability threshold remains at 1 million qubits and 99.99% fidelity.
- Investor Recommendations: While the quantum computing market is projected to reach $72 billion by 2030, Rigetti could become a significant player if it captures market share; however, due to its speculative nature, investors are advised to adopt a small stake strategy to mitigate risks.
- Intensifying Market Competition: Rigetti Computing is competing in the quantum computing space against tech giants like Google and IBM, with its 108-qubit system achieving gate speeds of 50-70 nanoseconds but only 99% accuracy, significantly lower than rival IonQ's 99.99%, threatening its market competitiveness.
- Future Development Goals: Rigetti aims to develop a system with 1,000 qubits by 2027, targeting 99.7% two-qubit gate fidelity; however, this appears conservative compared to IonQ's ambition to achieve 10,000 qubits in the same timeframe.
- Investment Risk Warning: Despite the quantum computing market being projected to reach $72 billion by 2030, Rigetti's stock has fallen over 60% from its 2025 peak, and it has given back all gains made in 2026, indicating high investment risk suitable only for risk-tolerant investors.
- Uncertain Market Outlook: If Rigetti can achieve large-scale quantum computing in the future, it may secure a position in the rapidly evolving quantum computing market, but there is currently no clear path or timeline, necessitating cautious evaluation of potential returns against risks for investors.
- Stock Volatility: Rigetti Computing has garnered attention over the past year, yet its stock has plummeted approximately 70% from its all-time high, indicating a significant decline in market confidence regarding its future prospects, prompting investors to reassess its investment value.
- Competitive Landscape: In the quantum computing sector, Rigetti faces fierce competition from companies like IonQ, which is set to release a 256-qubit system in 2026, highlighting Rigetti's disadvantages in technological advancement and market share.
- Technical Challenges: Rigetti's 108-qubit system is lagging in achieving 99.5% two-qubit gate fidelity, while its nine-qubit system achieves 99.7%; however, insufficient performance in larger systems may hinder its market position and future funding capabilities.
- Investment Risks: Should Rigetti fail to accelerate its technological progress, it risks further stock declines or even bankruptcy, which poses a negative signal for investors, as the market's sell-off reflects concerns over its future performance.
- Stock Surge: As of February 4, 2026, Rigetti Computing's share price has skyrocketed by 1,420% over the past 15 months, trailing D-Wave Quantum's 1,910% increase but significantly outperforming IonQ's 770% rise, reflecting strong investor confidence in the quantum computing sector.
- Market Expectations: Investors widely believe that quantum computing will disrupt various industries, including encryption, genetic analysis, and financial forecasting, with Rigetti aiming to offer a comprehensive suite of quantum computing solutions from hardware manufacturing to cloud services to attract deep-pocketed enterprise clients.
- Profitability Challenges: Despite its impressive stock performance, Rigetti faces significant unprofitability, with a staggering valuation ratio of 757 times sales, making it appear unreasonable compared to its market peers, indicating potential overvaluation risks.
- Future Outlook: While the stock may experience volatility due to market sentiment in the short term, the company's ongoing losses and reliance on stock issuance to sustain operations suggest a looming risk of price correction within the next one to two years.
- Significant Stock Surge: Rigetti Computing's shares rose 18.3% on Friday, closing at $2.69, driven not by company-specific news but by a broader tech rally, indicating ongoing investor interest in the quantum computing sector.
- Market Recovery Context: Following a brutal four-day decline, the Nasdaq Composite rebounded with a 2.1% increase, as renewed fears of an AI bubble emerged, fueled by major tech earnings revealing accelerating spending, which boosted investor sentiment.
- Surge in Capital Expenditures: Alphabet expects capital expenditures to range between $175 billion and $185 billion in 2026, nearly doubling its 2025 spending, while Amazon raised its 2026 capex guidance to $200 billion, a 60% increase from $125 billion, highlighting a trend of escalating investments among major tech firms.
- Ongoing Business Challenges: Despite Rigetti's market cap exceeding $5 billion, analysts suggest that the timeline for achieving commercial viability in quantum computing may be overly optimistic, as breakthrough success could be much further away than current valuations imply, posing risks to stock sustainability.
- Quantum Technology Breakthrough: Infleqtion focuses on quantum computing and sensing powered by neutral-atom technology, boasting over 230 patents and leveraging Nobel Prize-winning technology, showcasing a strong technical foundation and market potential.
- Collaboration with Nvidia: Infleqtion is closely working with Nvidia to integrate its Sqale quantum computer with Nvidia's CUDA-Q and NVQLink technology, aiming to accelerate hybrid quantum-classical computing applications, potentially unlocking commercial quantum computing sooner.
- SPAC Merger Financing: The proposed merger with Churchill Capital Corp X is expected to generate approximately $540 million in gross proceeds, including over $125 million in new capital, reflecting strong market confidence in Infleqtion's future growth.
- Strong Market Performance: Churchill Capital shares rose 5.59% to $11.34 at the time of publication, indicating positive investor sentiment towards the merger, which may present a good opportunity for long-term holding.











