D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 5.55%) stock got hit with a significant valuation retracement in February, falling 11.5% in the month. Tech stocks generally had a rough go of things over the stretch, as investors took more cautious positioning on AI companies and other highly growth-dependent plays and digested a hotter-than-expected inflation report at the end of the month. In addition to these dynamics, the quantum-computing stock also saw a significant pullback following its fourth-quarter report.
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D-Wave stock had a rocky end to February
D-Wave published its fourth-quarter results before the market opened on Feb. 26. The quantum specialist recorded a non-GAAP (adjusted) loss of $0.09 per share on sales of $2.8 million in the period. For comparison, the average analyst estimate had targeted an adjusted loss of $0.06 per share on sales of roughly $3.7 million.
While revenue still increased roughly 19% year over year, growth came in significantly lower than anticipated. Quarterly sales and earnings misses aren't a huge bearish indicator for D-Wave's long-term indicator at this relatively early stage in the game, but investors were looking for stronger expansion momentum to help support the company's hugely growth-dependent valuation. On the other hand, revenue for the full-year period was still up 179% on an annual basis to reach $24.6 million.
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Key Data Points
In addition to the Q4 sales and earnings misses, the company also said that it ended last quarter with bookings of $13.4 million -- down 27% year over year. The company's sales and bookings can be expected to be somewhat lumpy in conjunction with release timing for the latest versions of its quantum machines, but the bookings decline has likely played a role in dampening bullish sentiment surrounding the stock.
A day after the company's Q4 report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its produce-price-index (PPI) report for January. The report showed inflation that was significantly higher than expected, with the index's seasonally adjusted increase of 0.8% coming in far ahead of economists' forecast for inflation of 0.3%. Higher inflation could cause the Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate cuts, which would be an unfavorable development for growth stocks.
D-Wave stock has been treading water this month
D-Wave stock has been bouncing between sell-offs and gains early in March's trading. The company's share price declined at the beginning of the week in response to the U.S. and Israel's conflict with Iran, but shares rebounded following a report from ADP showing that 63,000 private-sector jobs were added last month when only 48,000 additions were called for by the prevailing estimate.
On the other hand, the stock is seeing a modest retreat following the February jobs report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. The report showed that the U.S. lost 92,000 non-farm jobs last month -- ahead of economists' estimate for a loss of 50,000 jobs. The company's share price is roughly flat in March so far.
On the heels of recent trading, D-Wave has a market capitalization of approximately $6.9 billion and is valued at approximately 157 times expected forward sales. The stock is down roughly 58% from its high, but it's still a high-risk investment.
