December 25, 2025 — Quantum computing stocks are closing out 2025 with a familiar mix of momentum, skepticism, and headline-driven volatility. With U.S. stock markets closed for Christmas Day (and having ended the prior session early on Dec. 24), today’s “market action” is less about intraday price swings and more about what investors are digesting: short-interest updates, institutional-position disclosures, and a growing stack of sell-side research laying out bold multi-year forecasts for the sector. NASDAQ Trader
The bottom line for anyone tracking quantum computing stocks into 2026 is simple: the story is accelerating faster than the financials—and that gap is exactly where the opportunity (and risk) lives.
Why quantum computing stocks stayed in the spotlight in late 2025
Quantum computing is increasingly framed as the next major compute platform—often discussed in the same breath as AI infrastructure and “the next big compute revolution.” In recent weeks, multiple Wall Street firms initiated or expanded coverage of pure-play quantum names, a shift that helped legitimize the theme for more mainstream investors even as most companies remain unprofitable and early in commercialization. Investors
At the same time, Reuters has highlighted how thematic retail trading has remained a powerful force in 2025—and that quantum has been one of the themes drawing meaningful interest alongside other high-volatility narratives.
That combination—new institutional attention + retail momentum + thin fundamentals—is a classic recipe for outsized swings.
Dec. 25 snapshot: short interest shows the market is still divided
One of the clearest “holiday week” signals for quantum computing stocks is short interest: it reflects how many traders are still willing to bet against these names after their 2025 runs.
D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS): short interest rises again
Benzinga’s Dec. 25 update shows D-Wave’s short interest rising versus the prior report:
- 41.81 million shares sold short
- 12.12% of float sold short
- ~1.3 days to cover based on trading volume
- Short interest up 3.95% since the last report
In practical terms: even after D-Wave’s surge in 2025, there’s still a sizable base of traders positioned for pullbacks—while the low days-to-cover number underscores how quickly a sharp move could force a scramble.
Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI): short interest eases, but remains elevated
Rigetti’s Dec. 25 short-interest readout looked slightly different—down versus the prior report, but still high:
- 43.49 million shares sold short
- 13.24% of float sold short
- ~1.11 days to cover
- Short interest down 3.92% since the last report
This is a key nuance: even when short interest falls, the absolute level can still be high enough to amplify volatility—up or down—when big catalysts hit.
IonQ (NYSE: IONQ): short interest remains a major part of the setup
Benzinga’s short-interest report page for IonQ shows ~20.64% of float sold short (about 70.88 million shares), with ~4.01 days to cover, based on its most recent reporting period.
That days-to-cover figure matters: it suggests IonQ’s short positioning may be harder to unwind quickly than some peers if sentiment suddenly shifts.
Institutional flows and insider activity: D-Wave’s filing adds context
One of the most concrete “news-style” data points dated Dec. 25 comes from MarketBeat’s recap of institutional activity in D-Wave:
- Orion Portfolio Solutions disclosed a new position of 55,900 shares (about $818,000)
- MarketBeat notes other institutional activity as well, including SG Americas Securities building a position worth roughly $14.35 million, and institutional ownership listed at 42.47%
MarketBeat’s same update also highlights a tension investors keep coming back to in quantum stocks: strong narrative momentum vs. still-developing business fundamentals. The piece notes D-Wave’s quarter in which it beat EPS expectations (loss of $0.05 vs. -$0.07) and reported revenue of $3.74 million, up 105.6% year-over-year, while remaining unprofitable.
It also flags notable insider selling activity, which some investors treat as a sentiment headwind—especially in fast-moving, retail-heavy names.
Valuation reality check: D-Wave’s surge meets the “math problem”
On Dec. 25, Simply Wall St published a valuation-focused breakdown asking whether D-Wave’s massive run is justified. Among its key conclusions:
- A discounted cash flow approach estimated ~$20.95 per share intrinsic value
- Relative to the then-current share price, the analysis suggested D-Wave could be ~31.4% overvalued on that DCF basis
Whether or not investors agree with any one DCF model, this highlights the broader debate: quantum stocks often trade on future potential rather than near-term profits.
Reuters put that debate bluntly in a prior analysis of the sector, quoting an analyst who said “the valuation on quantum names is more of an art than science.” Reuters
The catalyst calendar: what quantum stock investors are watching for early 2026
Even on a market holiday, the most actionable question is what comes next—because quantum stocks can reprice quickly around visibility and narrative milestones.
D-Wave: CES 2026 and the Qubits conference
D-Wave announced it will participate in CES 2026 as a sponsor of the CES Foundry in Las Vegas on Jan. 7–8, 2026, positioning the event as a platform to showcase customer use cases and hybrid quantum approaches.
The company also pointed investors to its Qubits user conference on Jan. 27–28, 2026 in Boca Raton, Florida.
For investors, the market significance is less about a single demo and more about whether D-Wave can keep building a narrative of “commercial traction now,” not “commercial traction someday.”
IonQ: international deployments and partnerships
Two late-2025 IonQ developments are shaping the 2026 setup:
- South Korea / KISTI: IonQ finalized an agreement to deliver a 100‑qubit Tempo system tied to South Korea’s national quantum computing initiative, with integration into the KISTI-6 (“HANKANG”) supercomputer environment. The Quantum Insider
- Switzerland / QuantumBasel: IonQ announced an expanded agreement with QuantumBasel valued at over $60 million, extending through 2029, adding next-gen systems (including Tempo) and expanding research collaborations (including workstreams tied to hybrid quantum-classical approaches and AI/LLM optimization).
These kinds of announcements matter in quantum investing because they provide tangible markers—deployments, contract scope, and ecosystem entrenchment—even if near-term revenue remains modest relative to valuations.
Analyst forecasts: bullish targets rise, but timelines stay long
If 2025 was the year Wall Street “rediscovered” quantum stocks, late December has been about putting numbers around the story.
- Investor’s Business Daily reported that multiple major firms initiated coverage across pure-play quantum names in 2025, with IonQ and D-Wave often receiving the more favorable ratings and higher targets, while Rigetti drew more mixed views.
- Barron’s described how firms like Jefferies and Wedbush have recommended buying IonQ and D-Wave while treating Rigetti more cautiously, reflecting different views on commercialization paths and dependency on government-related demand.
- Investopedia summarized Wedbush’s bullish stance across several names (including IonQ, D-Wave, Rigetti, and Quantum Computing Inc.) while emphasizing that the sector remains early and volatile.
- MarketWatch highlighted Mizuho’s framing of quantum computing as a potentially transformative compute shift, while also pointing out that revenues are still small compared to market capitalizations; it also cited a long-range market forecast stretching into the 2030s.
The common thread across this coverage: the big upside case exists primarily in the 2030 timeframe, not the next quarter. That means near-term pricing often reacts more to expectations than earnings.
How to think about quantum computing stocks heading into 2026
Quantum computing stocks tend to trade less like traditional software companies and more like “platform-optionality” assets—where investors pay for a probability-weighted future that’s hard to model. If you’re evaluating the group into year-end and early 2026, three questions can help cut through the noise:
- Is there a credible commercialization bridge?
Watch for multi-year enterprise relationships, deployments, and repeatable use cases (not just pilot headlines). D-Wave’s CES and Qubits visibility push is a near-term narrative test. - What does positioning imply about fragility?
Elevated short interest in D-Wave, Rigetti, and IonQ suggests a market that’s still unconvinced—and that can create both downside pressure and occasional squeeze dynamics. - Are valuation expectations running ahead of proof?
Valuation frameworks like DCFs can be imperfect for frontier tech, but they highlight the core risk: the stock may already price in years of success.
The takeaway for Dec. 25, 2025
With markets closed today, the most important “news” for quantum computing stocks is what the latest data implies:
- Short interest remains high, signaling continued skepticism even after major 2025 rallies.
- Institutional ownership is rising in at least some names, but insider activity and valuation debates are part of the package.
- Early-2026 events (CES, conferences, deployments) will matter because they can shift perception of how quickly “real-world quantum” is arriving. D-Wave Quantum
Quantum computing may indeed become a defining investment theme of the next decade. The near-term reality, though, is that quantum stocks are still being priced in a market where, as Reuters put it, valuation can feel like “art” more than “science.” Reuters
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
