Quantum Computing Is Still Years Away. These 6 Stocks Show Who Is Closest to Real Revenue.
Three of these companies are pure plays burning cash in pursuit of a market that barely exists yet. For the other three, quantum computing is a sideshow -- so far.
Quantum computing remains years away from generating significant revenue, according to recent filings from the leading companies in the field. The key issue for investors is evaluating which firms have the financial strength to sustain themselves while their quantum computing revenues take effect. Three key revenue figures from the latest quarter reveal the extent of this gap.
IonQ reported $80.1 million in revenue for the second quarter, while D-Wave Quantum generated around $3 million and Rigetti Computing produced $5.1 million. However, these revenues did not cover the annual hardware expenses for each company.
Among the established tech giants, IBM shows the most potential. While it does not report separate quantum computing revenue, it has invested $10 billion over five years and operates 13 utility-scale quantum computing systems with over 100 qubits each. IBM's CEO, Arvind Krishna, predicts that quantum computing will not impact profits until 2028 or 2029. Despite this long-term outlook, IBM's financial stability and scale provide a buffer for this prolonged wait.
In contrast, IonQ is the only pure-play quantum computing company showing real revenue growth. In the first half of 2026, IonQ reported $144.7 million in revenue, up from $28.3 million in the previous year. However, this growth comes at a high cost, with a quarterly loss of $1.87 billion and an operating cash burn of $254.8 million over six months.
D-Wave and Rigetti are smaller and earlier in their development stages. D-Wave reported flat revenue of $3.1 million in the second quarter but saw a significant increase in bookings to $35.5 million. However, only 37.3% of its cloud revenue came from production use, indicating that commercial applications are still in the testing phase. D-Wave's cash cushion has decreased due to acquisitions and cash used to fund its operations.
Rigetti's story is similar, with revenue increasing to $5.1 million and cash reserves of $541 million without any debt. However, like D-Wave, it has also raised new equity through stock offerings, rather than relying solely on customer sales. Both D-Wave and Rigetti are focused on generating interest, but their revenues are still insignificant compared to their cash burn rates.
Alphabet and Nvidia, while not directly selling quantum computing systems, are well-positioned to profit once the technology matures. Neither company currently offers proof of revenue generation from quantum computing, making them bystanders in the current market.
Investors can look to IBM for its balance sheet durability and IonQ for actual commercial traction. Additionally, Nvidia might become relevant if it allows investors access to its quantum operations. For the moment, IBM stands out as the most secure investment among the quantum computing players.
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