Quantum stocks are back, it seems, and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 7.86%) is no exception. Shares of the quantum "pure play" are up 109% in the last two months.
A broader market rally has helped -- the S&P 500 is up 15.6% in the last month, the Nasdaq Composite is up 23.8% -- but some key catalysts have renewed investor faith in the sector.
First, Nvidia announced Ising, a new family of open-source AI models designed to accelerate quantum computing research. And the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a new $2 billion quantum investment program. D-Wave will receive $100 million in federal funding.
NYSE: QBTS
Key Data Points
The stock is now sitting just shy of $30. Is now the time to buy?
The catalysts are encouraging, certainly, but they don't fundamentally change the picture in my eyes.
At present, D-Wave's financials aren't great to say the least: $12.5 million in sales over the last 12 months and a more than $100 million normalized loss during the same period.
Image source: Getty Images.
Despite this, the company's market cap is now north of $11 billion. There is a massive amount of faith baked into the stock price. That can work if D-Wave makes some serious leaps forward soon in the development of its technology, but it's likely real commercial quantum is many years -- maybe decades -- away.
If, in that time, there is a major market correction, investors will flee speculative stocks like D-Wave, and its share price will plummet. I think there will be serious buying opportunities in the future, and I would avoid D-Wave right now.
