If you want to become a millionaire in the stock market, look no further than the technology sector. With shares up by a whopping 1,154% over the past 12 months, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 3.33%) is an excellent example of this sector's wealth-creating potential. That said, volatility is a double-edged sword, as these massive gains often come with significant risks and volatility.
Let's explore what the future may bring for this booming stock.
The dawn of a new industry?
Three years ago, the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT marked the beginning of a new industry called generative AI, which promises to transform the way people interact with information. Now, there are rumblings that a new breakthrough, known as quantum computing, could be on the horizon.
Both technologies rely on computer hardware, but that is where most of the similarities end. While generative AI focuses on creating new content based on trained data, quantum computing aims to solve incomprehensibly complex calculations at a rapid rate by using units of information called qubits, which can be in many states at once.
If quantum computing proves successful, it could unlock significant efficiencies in drug discovery, materials science, and logistics. According to analysts at McKinsey & Company, the opportunity could be worth between $45 billion and $131 billion by 2040. This long-term potential is driving the excitement around early movers like D-Wave Quantum.
Can D-Wave crack the industry?
Despite launching its initial public offering (IPO) in 2022, D-Wave is actually a relatively old company, founded in 1999 in Vancouver, Canada. It has been backed by notable figures, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital firm, which has also supported other strategic tech companies, such as Palantir Technologies.
D-Wave is unique because it claims to sell the only commercially available quantum computers on the market. These devices, roughly the size of a walk-in freezer, utilize a process called quantum annealing to find solutions to problems by identifying the lowest energy choice among many possible options -- useful in specialized scenarios.
Image source: Getty Images.
While there is debate about whether D-Wave's system represents "true" generalized quantum computing (like what rivals like Alphabet's Google and IBM are working on), it has earned some recent scientific wins. In May, the company, alongside a team of scientists, announced that D-Wave's Advantage2 computer had managed to solve a problem faster than the Department of Energy's Frontier (the world's fastest supercomputer).
This achievement sparked massive interest in D-Wave's stock and could translate to meaningful operational gains for the company.
Business is booming, but is it enough?
On the surface, D-Wave's growth is astounding. First-quarter revenue jumped 500% year over year to a record of $15 million, driven by the sale of its first Advantage quantum annealing computer system to a major research institution (likely Germany's Forschungszentrum Jülich).
Perhaps more importantly, operating losses fell from $17.5 million to $11.3 million, which suggests D-Wave can easily scale into sustainable profitability if it maintains its triple-digit growth rate. Furthermore, with a whopping $304.3 million in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet, the company looks capable of sustaining current losses well into the future.
D-Wave looks like it has all the ingredients of a potential millionaire-making stock as it enjoys tremendous growth in a brand-new industry. That said, investors who buy shares should remember that they are betting on a speculative company in an industry that very few people understand.
There is no guarantee that research institutions will continue buying D-Wave's quantum annealing systems, and that means the potential for massive gains comes with the potential for significant losses if the technology doesn't live up to expectations.
