Share prices sometimes soar more than the underlying businesses of companies warrant. Buying is intensified as a result of hype and investors' fear of missing out (FOMO). These are the tell-tale signs of a stock market bubble.
There's a good case to be made that quantum computing stocks are in a bubble. And all bubbles end negatively, often in spectacular fashion.
What's the best quantum computing stock to own if the bubble bursts? I think one stands out above the rest.
Image source: Getty Images.
Cross several quantum computing stocks off the list
We can quickly eliminate several quantum computing stocks from consideration. I'm referring to pure plays that remain unprofitable and have seen their shares deliver huge gains over the last year or so.
Rigetti Computing (RGTI 1.98%) ranks as one of the biggest quantum computing winners. Its shares have skyrocketed more than 6x over the last 12 months. However, Rigetti continues to lose money hand over fist, posting a net loss of roughly $201 million based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the third quarter of 2025. The company's revenue even declined 18% year over year.
NASDAQ: RGTI
Key Data Points
The picture is only somewhat better for D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 2.32%). The stock has soared by more than 440% over the last 12 months. While D-Wave's revenue doubled year over year in Q3, its bottom line deteriorated, with the company reporting a net loss of $140 million.
What about IonQ (IONQ 0.59%), whose market capitalization of around $19 billion makes it the largest pure-play quantum computing company? Its stock gain has been significantly lower than that of its smaller rivals. Although IonQ's year-over-year revenue growth of 222% in Q3 was impressive, its net loss of $1.1 billion was't.
If the quantum computing bubble bursts, you can bet that the share prices for all three of these companies (as well as other small players in the nascent industry) would plunge. Their valuations at this point are based largely on investors' hopes rather than solid financial underpinnings.
Strong contenders
Investors wanting to avoid the likely carnage that would result from a quantum computing bubble burst have other alternatives, though. Several tech giants are investing heavily in quantum computing, but they generate their revenue from other businesses.
Microsoft (MSFT 0.14%) is a great example. Its topological superconductors, or topoconductors, look promising as a way to scale quantum computers. The company's Azure platform also supports quantum computing research. However, you could remove everything Microsoft is doing related to quantum computing without significantly impacting the investment premise for the stock.
NASDAQ: MSFT
Key Data Points
Ditto for Amazon (AMZN +0.55%). It dominates the e-commerce market. Amazon Web Services (AWS) ranks as the largest cloud services provider and, like Microsoft Azure, hosts developers of quantum computing systems. The company also developed the Ocelet quantum computing chip that holds the potential to drastically reduce the costs of quantum error correction.
I'd include International Business Machines (IBM +0.78%) on the list of strong contenders, too. IBM generates the majority of its revenue these days from software and consulting. The company is also a major player in quantum computing, though, and should solidify its position with the impending launch of its Nighthawk quantum processor.
The best post-bubble quantum computing stock
However, I don't think Microsoft, Amazon, or IBM rank as the best quantum computing stocks to own if the bubble bursts. That honor belongs to Alphabet (GOOG +1.26%) (GOOGL +1.30%), in my opinion.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
Alphabet's Google Quantum AI is unquestionably a leader in advancing quantum computing. Its Willow chip solved a major problem in quantum error correction – reducing errors as more qubits are added. Willow also achieved quantum advantage by performing a standard benchmark calculation in seconds that would take the fastest supercomputers available today 10 septillion years to handle.
Like Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM, Alphabet doesn't need quantum computing to be successful. The company remains the 800-pound gorilla in the search engine market. Google Cloud is growing faster than AWS and Microsoft Azure. Alphabet's Waymo unit is the leader in the robotaxi market.
What about valuation? Alphabet's stock is also cheaper than Microsoft's, Amazon's, or IBM's, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3. And its price-to-sales ratio is only a fraction of ginormous multiples for D-Wave Quantum, IonQ, and Rigetti.
Bubble or no bubble, I think the future of quantum computing is exciting. For investors who want to potentially profit from the technology without worrying about being wiped out if a bubble bursts, Alphabet looks like the best option around.
