Quantum computers: Rigetti & Co's challenges to technology giants
Focus. Boom on the stock market, also on the speculative wave, of many companies in the sector. The technology is not mature and the quotations are high but the big techs are betting on it
The quantum computer. A topic which - unlike Artificial intelligence (Ai) - does not fill the headlines. And which, however, has attracted the attention of investors on the stock exchange. Especially recently. To realise this, one only has to look at some of the performances of companies in the sector. Dynamics which, on the one hand, have been supported by speculation; and which, on the other, must be approached - also because intraday volatility is high - with great, great caution.
Titles and market
That said, the market numbers describe upward trends. Any examples? IonQ. The company, headquartered in Maryland, has gained 244.3% over the past year. That's quite a leap forward, which, on closer inspection, has mainly taken off since the beginning of last September. At that time, the stock of the company - which offers quantum computing solutions through cloud platforms from Amazon, Microsoft and Google - was hovering around $6.6. Now it dances around the $45 mark. A similar argument can be made in two other cases. The first is that of Rigetti Computing. Only at the end of November 2024, the shares of the latter - active in the sector since 2013 - were 'languishing' at around $3. Then, in little more than a month, the stock rose to $17. The second, however, concerns D-Wave Quantum. Here, the small Canadian company jumped from the two-dollar area to rise - after touching $10 - to the current $9.91. All this with an increase - in the last month - of 258.4%. Faced with such a scenario, the saver - inevitably - asks: what has awakened the interest of traders?
The Profit and Loss Account
First of all, it must be emphasised that this is not a reaction to the trend in profitability or, more generally, to the fundamentals. Sure: some improvements in the balance sheet items - as in the case of IonQ - can help. And, however, the companies in question are frontier hi-tech companies which, operating with a technology that is not yet commercially mature, on the one hand invest a lot of money in research and development; and, on the other, so far do not cover their production costs. Thus, IonQ itself - in the fourth quarter of 2024 - reported revenues rising to USD 12.4 million, but - having, among other things, spent USD 33.2 million on R&D - posted an operating loss of USD 65.5 million. Rigetti, on the other hand, posted an operating red of 17.3 million last quarter. D-Wave, finally, posted a net loss of EUR 22.7 million. In short: the market movers are not to be found in the quarterly figures, although these should always be x-rayed.
The race for quantum computing
In reality, other situations or events played an important role. Some of these are related to the individual history of the companies described. Others, on the other hand, are more sectoral in nature, involving several technological giants. In the race for the quantum computer, in fact, several big tech companies are also involved: from Alphabet to Microsoft to Ibm. Is this surprising? "Absolutely not,' replies Roberto Siagri, former founder of Eurotech and current CEO of Rotonium. Quantum computing represents a paradigm leap'. It is a technology that, instead of relying on traditional bits (which use the binary code 0 and 1), works 'with quantum bits. That is, units of information capable of being 'simultaneously' in the two states 0 and 1. Thanks to it, the quantum computer 'is able, among other things, to achieve much greater capacity and speed of calculation than the traditional one. A combination that, for example in the training of neural systems, is very useful. Among other things, to reduce energy consumption'. It is clear, therefore, why 'big companies, active in Ai, want to be in the game'.
True! The quantum computer - operating on sub-atomic scales, i.e. extremely small systems - is highly unstable. It is affected by the slightest background noise and is therefore very difficult to realise. In other words: it is a technological revolution that, despite rapid scientific progress, is - according to several scientists - still a long way off. 'Nevertheless,' Siagri retorts, 'important steps forward are being taken. So much so that within three or four years we will arrive at its use in industry'.
