Revenue Plunge Can't Overshadow Surge in Orders for Quantum Computing Pioneer D-Wave, Pre-Market Up Over 6%

Quantum computing company D-Wave Quantum disclosed its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 on Tuesday. Despite the revenue performance in the quarter falling short of market expectations, the company's stock price rose sharply by more than 6% in pre-market trading on Tuesday due to explosive growth in bookings.

The financial report indicates that D-Wave recorded a loss of $0.05 per share in this fiscal quarter. This loss is narrower than the $0.10 analysts previously expected, exceeding market expectations in terms of profitability. The company's operating revenue was only $2.86 million in the first quarter, a significant 81% drop from $15 million in the same period last year. This figure failed to meet the estimated $4.2 million analysts had anticipated, triggering market concerns about the company's short-term revenue volatility.

The main reason for the revenue decline is the high base during the same period last year. D-Wave completed a sale of an annealing quantum computing system worth $12.6 million in the first quarter of 2025, and there was no equivalent scale of revenue confirmation in this quarter.

CEO Alan Baratz stated in an interview with Barron's that, due to the irregularity of large transactions in quantum computing system sales, the company's performance will inevitably exhibit a certain level of volatility in the short term.

Investors this time chose to ignore the short-term dip in revenue and focused on the highly potential increase in orders. D-Wave's bookings for the first quarter reached $33.4 million, an astonishing 1994% increase from $1.6 million in the same period last year. This growth was mainly driven by two core contracts, including a system purchase agreement with Florida Atlantic University worth $20 million, signifying the continued demand for commercial quantum hardware from academic institutions.

Additionally, the company signed a two-year quantum computing cloud service agreement with an undisclosed Fortune 100 company. The contract, valued at $10 million, shows that top global enterprises are accelerating their commercial application of quantum computing.