QBTS edges up as options traders lean bullish on D-Wave into year-end

Shares of D-Wave Quantum Inc rose about 0.5% to $25.41 in late-morning New York trading on Monday, after ranging between $25.02 and $26.37 earlier in the session. IonQ fell about 1.8%, while Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc slid about 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 11:58 ET — Regular session

  • D-Wave Quantum shares rose modestly in late-morning trade, outpacing other U.S.-listed quantum names.
  • Options activity showed calls leading puts, a sign of mildly bullish positioning, according to TheFly.
  • Investors are looking ahead to D-Wave’s CES Foundry appearance in early January after its last company update on Dec. 22.

Shares of D-Wave Quantum Inc (QBTS) rose about 0.5% to $25.41 in late-morning New York trading on Monday, after ranging between $25.02 and $26.37 earlier in the session. IonQ fell about 1.8%, while Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc slid about 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

The move keeps D-Wave in focus as investors reassess a corner of the market that has produced outsized gains and abrupt pullbacks. The stock is up about 205% year-to-date but down about 4.6% over the past week, according to Finviz.

With only a few sessions left in 2025, traders have been watching whether late-December selling reflects profit-taking or a broader shift away from speculative growth. Small-cap quantum names have tended to swing sharply on sentiment, amplifying moves when liquidity is thin.

Options trading pointed to a cautiously positive tilt on Monday. Call options — contracts that give investors the right to buy shares at a set price — led puts, with about 27,000 contracts traded and a put/call ratio of 0.5, TheFly reported.

TheFly said implied volatility, an options-based gauge of expected price swings, rose to about 96, implying an expected daily move of roughly $1.55.

A TipRanks article published Monday flagged D-Wave as a high-scoring stock heading into 2026 and highlighted upbeat analyst coverage. Wedbush analyst Antoine Legault said, “While still in its infancy, we see broad commercial adoption as being the next major catalyst,” TipRanks reported. TipRanks

D-Wave builds quantum computing systems and provides access through its Leap cloud service, selling software and services alongside hardware, according to a Reuters company profile.

The company is known for “annealing” machines — a form of quantum computing aimed mainly at optimization tasks such as routing and scheduling — and for hybrid tools that pair quantum processors with conventional computers.

Investors are also looking ahead to the company’s January calendar. D-Wave said on Dec. 22 it will sponsor CES Foundry at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Jan. 7-8, 2026 and plans demos and a masterclass; it also set its Qubits user conference for Jan. 27-28, 2026 in Boca Raton, Florida.

D-Wave’s newsroom shows its most recent press release was the Dec. 22 CES update, leaving Monday’s tape to trade largely on positioning and broader risk appetite rather than fresh company disclosures.

That setup puts extra weight on technical levels in the near term, with the $25 area in view as support and the $26.37 intraday peak the closest test for momentum buyers.

Traders will also be watching whether options markets stay tilted to the upside as January approaches, when public demos and customer-facing events can act as a catalyst for sentiment in an industry still judged largely on adoption signals.

Shan Ahmed Khan

Shan Ahmed Khan is a senior markets reporter at TS2.tech. His coverage ranges from stocks and technology to economic developments across global markets. He worked in investment research and market analysis before becoming a financial journalist and is a graduate of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

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