Quantum computing appears to be a faraway technology that won't make an impact for many years. But there are actually some quantum computers that are being made by D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 8.04%), and they are making a real impact in the industry.
D-Wave is seeing strong demand for its purpose-built quantum computers, and it makes for a practical quantum computing investment right now.
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D-Wave is using a different approach to quantum computing
When you hear about quantum computers, most of the time, investors are discussing quantum computers that have the same capability as a traditional computer. This allows them to run a wide variety of workloads and perform other operations easily. General computing is extremely difficult, but more specialized computing isn't as hard.
D-Wave Quantum is taking the more specialized path, and its products are already being used in multiple industries. It specializes in quantum annealing technology, which looks for the qubit with the lowest-energy state in the system. Qubits are the base information unit for quantum computers, similar to how a bit is used in traditional computing. By finding the qubit with the lowest energy state, this represents the most optimized answer.
Optimization problems are common in industry; traditional computers are quite bad at optimizing because they must calculate their way through several options to determine which is best. Quantum computers have a significant advantage in this field because they use superposition, which allows for a more nuanced analysis within a single qubit, versus a bit, which is limited to a 0 or a 1.
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Optimization problems are common in scheduling and logistics networks, as well as artificial intelligence. Several companies are already using D-Wave Quantum's products in workforce and production scheduling, doing tasks that would have taken a traditional computer weeks to complete, but that D-Wave's product does in less than a day.
This is starting to show up in D-Wave's results, as its revenue rose 179% in 2025. D-Wave announced several companies that were signing new contracts and expanding other contracts to increase usage of its quantum annealing computers. That's a major deal, and showcases that real quantum technology is starting to become more widespread.
This is just the precursor to quantum computers that operate off of gate models , which D-Wave is also looking into. Gate model quantum computers operate more like traditional computers with specific logic operators. With the right algorithms, they can process any problem, which opens up a larger market for D-Wave to expand into. Annealing quantum computers can only optimize data sets.
While annealing computers are available now, gate model quantum computers are the future. The two systems can also work together, using annealing optimization to reach a reasonable starting point for detailed analysis with gate models.
I think D-Wave Quantum is an excellent option to scoop up, especially since it's already having some success in the industry. Combine a D-Wave investment with a few larger companies that have massive resources, and I think that provides a healthy risk-to-reward balance in the quantum space.
