New York, May 24, 2026, 10:04 EDT
- Quantum Computing Inc. finished Friday at $12.31, gaining 7.89% as quantum-linked stocks rallied late in the week.
- Nasdaq will not open on Monday, May 25, because of Memorial Day. U.S. stocks are set to trade again Tuesday.
- The U.S. Commerce Department’s $2.013 billion quantum plan included IBM, GlobalFoundries, D-Wave, Rigetti, and more. QUBT was left out.
Quantum Computing Inc. jumped after the holiday, picking up strong gains while traders moved into quantum computing stocks. Washington announced more than $2 billion in government funding for the sector, but Quantum Computing did not make the list of companies set to get those awards.
This comes up now as the move seemed more like investors buying into the sector, not picking one company as the winner. Quantum computing works with qubits, which can approach problems differently than the 0-or-1 bits in normal computers. Some investors are betting federal funding can push quantum tech out of the lab and into commercial use faster.
QUBT ended Friday at $12.31, gaining 7.89% after moving between $11.61 and $13.39. About 67.5 million shares changed hands, heavier than usual. The stock finished the week up roughly 17% from last Friday’s $10.51 close.
No cash-equity trading is set for Sunday, with Nasdaq showing Monday, May 25, as a market holiday for Memorial Day. Nasdaq’s normal stock-market session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, so Tuesday will be the first full trading day back for QUBT.
The Commerce Department gave markets a bump late in the week, announcing it signed nine letters of intent for $2.013 billion in CHIPS and Science Act incentives. IBM is in line for $1 billion for its new quantum foundry arm, GlobalFoundries gets $375 million, and seven quantum players such as D-Wave and Rigetti are set to receive smaller sums. The government said it will take minority, non-controlling equity stakes, meaning it won’t have control of the businesses.
QUBT found itself in a tough spot here. D-Wave and Rigetti both trade publicly and get a direct lift from the news. IBM, with its size and manufacturing business, is another clear winner for investors. Reuters said shares of companies tied to the deal jumped from 6% to 31% following the news. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told reporters that outside customers would have “the exact same capability” as IBM. Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella said the deal showed quantum was coming faster than people thought. Reuters
Quantum Computing pitches itself as something else. The Hoboken, New Jersey company says it’s in quantum optics and integrated photonics. In photonics, light carries or handles data. It also runs a foundry for thin-film lithium niobate, an optical material put into photonic chips.
Quantum Computing’s last update is still driving the stock. On May 11, the company posted first-quarter revenue of $3.7 million, much higher than $39,000 a year ago, mostly on the Luminar Semiconductor buy in February and NuCrypt in March. Operating costs jumped 139% to $19.8 million. Net loss was $4.1 million.
The company finished March holding roughly $1.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments. Its contract backlog sat at about $16 million. Traders have kept coming back to the stock on the strength of that cash, even though sales are still low.
Chief Executive Yuping Huang said the company made “significant operational progress” during the quarter. Huang said the low power needs of photonics and its ability to work at room temperature are important with growing demand for faster data processing. PR Newswire
But risks are clear too. Wedbush analyst Antoine Legault called QUBT a “show me” story, saying the “story remains in early days.” He pointed to QUBT being behind public peers in development and having less quantum hardware revenue. A pullback Tuesday would not surprise if investors think this latest run just rode on federal awards aimed at others. TipRanks
This week isn’t about any big company event. With markets closed Monday, trading restarts Tuesday. Washington gave broad backing to quantum, but QUBT didn’t get a specific grant. The company still runs at a loss and has to prove its deals will convert its cash pile into steady sales.
