D‑Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is back in the spotlight on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, as a fresh wave of Wall Street coverage collides with the sector’s defining feature: extreme volatility.
After a strong rebound on Tuesday, QBTS pulled back in Wednesday’s session. As of 19:58 UTC (2:58 p.m. ET), shares were trading around $24.22, down about 5.1% on the day after opening near $26.29, with heavy volume and wide intraday swings.
The selling pressure didn’t come from a single headline. Instead, it reflects a familiar pattern in high‑momentum “frontier tech” trades: new bullish analyst notes spark a rally, and then traders take profits quickly—especially in a group where long‑term expectations often move faster than near‑term fundamentals.
Below is a comprehensive roundup of the major news, forecasts, and analyses dated December 17, 2025, and how they’re shaping the debate around D‑Wave heading into 2026.
QBTS stock action on Dec. 17: a pullback after Tuesday’s pop
QBTS entered Wednesday on the back of a strong move higher in the previous session. But by mid‑afternoon, the stock was giving back ground—typical behavior for a name that has become a proxy for quantum risk appetite.
Real‑time market data shows:
- Price: about $24.22
- Day change: about -5%
- Open:$26.29
- Intraday range: roughly $24.03 to $27.28
- Volume: roughly 22 million shares by mid‑afternoon
That kind of spread—several dollars between low and high in a single day—underscores why QBTS is increasingly treated less like a conventional small‑cap tech stock and more like a momentum-driven thematic trade.
The headline driver: Wedbush initiates coverage with Outperform and a $35 target
One of the biggest December 17 catalysts is Wedbush launching formal coverage of the quantum computing group.
In a note reported Wednesday morning, Wedbush analyst Antoine Legault initiated:
- D‑Wave Quantum (QBTS): Outperform
- IonQ (IONQ): Outperform
- Rigetti (RGTI): Outperform
- Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT): Neutral
Wedbush framed quantum as a long‑duration theme moving from research toward early commercial applications, while emphasizing that timing remains uncertain and the path runs through advances like error correction and hybrid quantum‑classical computing stacks. [1]
On D‑Wave specifically, multiple reports tied to the initiation highlighted a $35 price target—a level that implies meaningful upside from where the stock traded Wednesday. [2]
Why the Wedbush note matters
New “initiations” can be market‑moving in hot themes for one simple reason: they often bring fresh institutional attention (and sometimes new buyers) into a stock that had been dominated by retail momentum and thematic traders.
Wedbush also put numbers behind its long‑term view, suggesting quantum systems could represent just under 2% of total compute expenditures by 2030 across the firms it covers—small in share, but huge in absolute dollars if the overall compute market continues to expand. [3]
Jefferies’ Buy call and $45 target adds fuel to the bull case
While Wedbush was the “today” headline, it arrived right after another major catalyst that shaped the tape this week: Jefferies initiating coverage with a Buy rating and a $45 price target.
Market coverage dated Dec. 17 points to Jefferies publishing the initiation on Tuesday, setting up the move that helped QBTS rebound into Tuesday’s close. [4]
Jefferies’ thesis (as relayed in multiple summaries) centers on:
- improving product roadmaps and customer traction,
- the idea that customers are shifting from testing to production usage,
- and D‑Wave’s financial flexibility—reported as $836.2 million in cash and about $32 million in debt heading into 2026. [5]
That cash figure is central to the Street’s optimism. In frontier tech, time is often the most valuable asset. A company that can fund R&D and commercialization without constant dilution can maintain momentum longer—and potentially emerge as a category leader if the market matures.
QBTS price targets today: why “the forecast” depends on which consensus you read
On December 17, investors saw a cluster of bullish targets, but also noticeable differences in “consensus” averages across platforms.
Here’s what the day’s reporting indicates:
- Wedbush: Outperform, $35 target [6]
- Jefferies: Buy, $45 target [7]
- Mizuho (earlier in December): Outperform, $46 target (referenced in today’s coverage) [8]
- Evercore ISI (earlier in December): Outperform, $44 target (also referenced in today’s coverage) [9]
Meanwhile, “average target prices” vary depending on the dataset and how recently targets were updated:
- One report pegged the average at $32.13 with a “Moderate Buy” consensus. [10]
- Another compilation cited ~$38.04 average (with a wide high/low spread). [11]
- TipRanks coverage cited an average target around $40 in its broader quantum roundup. [12]
What this means in plain English
The Street’s newer notes are skewing bullish, with many targets clustering in the mid‑$30s to mid‑$40s. But older or more conservative targets can drag down “average” numbers until databases refresh.
For QBTS, the takeaway isn’t that one consensus number is “right.” It’s that analyst optimism is rising quickly, and that optimism is itself becoming part of the story driving the stock.
Why D‑Wave is getting bullish write‑ups: “commercial readiness” and a war chest
Across today’s analyst-driven stories, D‑Wave’s investment pitch tends to rest on three pillars:
1) D‑Wave’s focus on practical quantum use cases today
D‑Wave is most closely associated with quantum annealing, which targets optimization problems (routing, scheduling, resource allocation) that show up in logistics, manufacturing, and other operational workflows.
Several December 17 analyses argue that the market is rewarding D‑Wave because it appears closer to real-world usage than some peers—essentially, “less science project, more workload.” [13]
2) A hybrid strategy: near-term optimization plus longer-term platforms
Jefferies’ coverage (as summarized by TipRanks) described D‑Wave as combining near‑term tools with longer‑term development, aiming to keep customers engaged as the technology matures. [14]
3) Balance sheet strength that buys time
Multiple reports highlight D‑Wave’s liquidity as a differentiator, often framing it as “the company can afford the long road.” [15]
The fundamental reality check: fast growth off a tiny base, and still deeply unprofitable
Even bullish coverage frequently concedes the same hard truth: quantum pure plays are early.
A MarketBeat roundup published today noted that D‑Wave’s revenue rose 105.6% year‑over‑year to $3.74 million in its most recent quarterly report, while the company remained unprofitable and posted very large negative margins. [16]
That gap—multi-billion-dollar market value expectations versus single-digit millions in quarterly revenue—is exactly what makes QBTS both exciting and dangerous for investors.
The bear case featured today: bubble math and valuation risk
Not all December 17 coverage is celebratory.
A widely shared skeptical take from The Motley Fool argues that quantum stocks are flashing a familiar warning sign from prior “next big thing” cycles: extremely high price-to-sales multiples. In that analysis, D‑Wave’s price-to-sales ratio was cited at an eye-popping triple‑digit level, used as evidence that expectations could be outrunning reality. [17]
This isn’t a new critique. Reuters has previously characterized the group’s valuation framework as closer to “art than science,” highlighting how dramatic the disconnect can be between today’s market caps and near‑term sales in the quantum cohort. [18]
The core risk investors are pricing
The market is effectively paying today for a future where quantum moves from niche workloads to broad commercial scale—possibly a decade-long arc.
If that arc gets delayed, if adoption stalls, or if quantum advantage proves harder to monetize than expected, stocks like QBTS can re-rate sharply downward—even if the technology itself keeps advancing.
Insider selling and shareholder moves: what today’s summaries flagged
Another point raised in today’s reporting is insider activity.
A MarketBeat summary highlighted recent insider selling, including a sale by CEO Alan E. Baratz (168,102 shares) and other insider sales over the past three months, while noting insider ownership as a relatively small percentage of shares. [19]
Separately, a Fintel roundup published early Dec. 17 pointed to notable institutional positions and changes in holdings, naming firms such as D. E. Shaw and UBS Group as among shareholders disclosed in filings. [20]
Important context: insider selling can happen for many reasons (taxes, diversification, pre-set trading plans). It’s rarely a single-factor signal—but in a momentum stock, it can influence sentiment.
Recent corporate updates still shaping the QBTS narrative
Although today’s market focus is analyst coverage, D‑Wave has also made capital structure and go‑to‑market moves in recent weeks that analysts are weaving into their theses.
Warrant redemption and added cash
D‑Wave reported in late November that it completed redemption of its public warrants, with 4,746,358 warrants exercised and ~$54.6 million in cash proceeds, and the warrants delisted while common stock continued under QBTS. [21]
U.S. government business unit
On Dec. 2, D‑Wave announced the formation of a U.S. government-focused business unit, naming Jack Sears Jr. to lead government solutions efforts and positioning the company to pursue secure and defense-related demand. [22]
Qubits 2026 conference: a near-term sentiment catalyst
D‑Wave also announced that its Qubits user conference will take place Jan. 27–28, 2026 in Boca Raton, where it plans to discuss product roadmaps and customer use cases. For a momentum stock, events like these can act as sentiment catalysts—either reinforcing optimism or exposing gaps between narrative and execution. [23]
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.gurufocus.com, 3. www.investing.com, 4. www.marketbeat.com, 5. www.tipranks.com, 6. www.gurufocus.com, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. www.gurufocus.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. www.marketbeat.com, 11. www.gurufocus.com, 12. www.tipranks.com, 13. www.marketbeat.com, 14. www.tipranks.com, 15. www.barrons.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. www.fool.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.marketbeat.com, 20. fintel.io, 21. www.dwavequantum.com, 22. www.dwavequantum.com, 23. www.dwavequantum.com
