BERKELEY, California, September 6, 2026, 1:34 a.m. PDT — Rigetti Computing Inc. NASDAQ:RGTI disclosed an insider stock sale Thursday. Finance chief Jeffrey Bertelsen sold 25,000 shares for $375,010. Yet his direct common-stock position did not shrink.
The distinction matters. Bertelsen first exercised 25,000 options, then sold the same number. His direct holding began and ended at 168,067 shares, the new regulatory filing shows.
The sale was an option exercise in motion
Bertelsen’s direct common-stock balance on September 3.
Source: Rigetti’s SEC Form 4. The filing also reports 256,250 options remaining.
The trade was scheduled, not improvised. Bertelsen adopted the Rule 10b5-1 plan on June 4. The exercise cost $15,000. The gross spread was about $360,010 before taxes and fees.
A separate Form 144 notice identifies Piper Sandler as broker. It also discloses an earlier 3,860-share sale on August 25 for $65,030.77.
So the latest disposal is poor evidence of a fresh bearish call. It is still useful. The filing redirects attention from insider optics toward the price investors already place on a small revenue base.
Rigetti lost the August earnings bounce
Daily closes across the latest 22 U.S. sessions.
Friday’s close was 8.0% below August 6 and 19.2% below the August 14 peak. Last regular trade at . Source: S&P Global data via StockAnalysis.
Rigetti closed Friday at $15.20, up two cents. Using the 333,768,747 shares in the sale notice, its equity value was about $5.07 billion.
Cash and available-for-sale investments totaled $541.3 million at June 30. Subtracting that balance produces an approximate enterprise value of $4.53 billion.
The stock price carries a 220× revenue test
Approximate value bridge at Friday’s close.
Sources: the latest share count, Friday’s closing price and Rigetti’s quarterly figures. Calculations by TS2.
Second-quarter revenue reached $5.138 million. Operating loss was $28.062 million, or 5.5 times revenue. Interest income of $5.058 million nearly matched sales. That comes from the oversized balance sheet.
The cash provides time, but not proof. Rigetti’s 108-qubit Cepheus system reported 99.1% median two-qubit fidelity. Management targets about 1,000 qubits, 99.9% fidelity and sub-50-nanosecond gates over roughly three years.
Those are engineering targets. Revenue must follow. A May letter of intent contemplates up to $100 million of U.S. Commerce Department funding over three years, with the government receiving equity.
Chief Executive Subodh Kulkarni said the investment would let Rigetti “tackle key scaling bottlenecks more rapidly.” The company’s own release also says definitive agreements may never be signed. Existing holders therefore face both funding uncertainty and potential dilution.
Analysts price outcomes, not today’s business
Recent published targets span more than two times the latest close.
Rating counts and targets: Google Finance analyst data. Implied returns use Friday’s $15.20 close and TS2 calculations. Targets are opinions, not guarantees.
Sell-side optimism is broad, not precise. The current low target is $18 and the high is $40. David Williams of Benchmark once described the sector’s central problem neatly: “the valuation on quantum names is more of an art than science,” he told Reuters.
For Tuesday, the insider filing changes little. The harder checkpoints are signed government terms, paid system deliveries and better fidelity at greater scale. Each must arrive before current sales can grow into the valuation.
What can go wrong: Technical milestones may slip, customers may delay orders and the federal letter may not become a contract. Equity funding could dilute shareholders. A 220-times revenue multiple also leaves little shelter if speculative technology stocks reprice.
Nasdaq is closed Monday for Labor Day under its 2026 calendar. Rigetti’s next regular session starts Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
