D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) Stock Drops 10% as Q2 Revenue Falls Short of Forecasts

TLDR

• QBTS fell over 10% in premarket trading after Q2 revenue came in at $3.07 million, missing the $4.03 million Wall Street estimate
• Loss per share of $0.13 also missed consensus of $0.09
• Bookings surged 1,120% year-over-year to $35.5 million for the first half of 2026
• Operating loss widened to $53.3 million from $26.5 million, driven by higher product development spending
• Peer IonQ rose 4.9% on the same day after reporting a nearly 300% jump in quarterly revenue

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D-Wave Quantum stock dropped more than 10% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company posted a double miss in its second-quarter 2026 results.

D-Wave Quantum Inc., QBTS

Revenue came in at $3.07 million for the quarter ended June 30, well below the $4.03 million analysts had forecast. The stock was trading around $18.80 in premarket, down from the prior close of $21.39.

The per-share loss of $0.13 also came in worse than the consensus estimate of $0.09, adding to the pressure on the stock.

D-WAVE $QBTS Q2’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS

🔹 Revenue: $3.1M (Est. $4M) 🔴; flat YoY
🔹 EPS: -$0.13 (Est. -$0.09) 🔴 pic.twitter.com/c2wKQGNF1A

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) August 6, 2026

The result was a sharp contrast to peer IonQ, which rose 4.9% on the same day after reporting a nearly 300% increase in quarterly revenue along with a full-year guidance raise.

The miss hit harder because expectations had been running high heading into the print. D-Wave had published a peer-reviewed paper in Nature detailing a two-qubit gate with 99.9% fidelity in the days before earnings.

The company had also announced a new quantum computing agreement with Nasdaq Verafin targeting financial crime detection. On top of that, Wedbush initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $40 price target.

Analysts had modeled roughly 39% sequential revenue growth from Q1’s $2.9 million. The actual $3.07 million result underscored what management has called the “lumpy” nature of its revenue cycle.

Bookings Tell a Different Story

Not everything in the report was negative. Bookings surged more than 1,120% year-over-year to $35.5 million for the first half of 2026. The company defines bookings as customer orders expected to generate future revenue.

Net loss narrowed to $48 million from $167 million a year ago, though the operating loss widened to $53.3 million from $26.5 million. Management attributed the wider operating loss to increased spending on product development and go-to-market efforts.

D-Wave counts defense contractor Anduril Industries among its customers. CEO Alan Baratz has said that relationship opened doors to additional partnerships.

Government Ties Add Some Stability

D-Wave was one of a handful of publicly traded quantum companies to reach a tentative agreement with the Commerce Department, exchanging a minority stake for federal funding.

Baratz highlighted the company’s government ties at the investor day in June, a point that carries more weight as the current administration increases investment in quantum technology.

D-Wave has been in the quantum computing space since 1999 and is widely regarded as the first company to commercialize the technology, having sold a system to Lockheed Martin in 2011.

The broader tech market offered little support on Thursday, with the Nasdaq down 0.4% and quantum computing names broadly under pressure as investors continue to look for clearer signs of commercial traction.

D-Wave’s Q2 bookings of $35.5 million for the first half of 2026 remain the most concrete indicator of future revenue conversion on the table.