NEW YORK, June 3, 2026, 05:07 (EDT)
Rigetti Computing shares ended Tuesday up 4.9% at $26.88, putting the quantum computing firm’s market cap near $9.0 billion before the Nasdaq opened again Wednesday. Nasdaq’s main session was still shut in New York. June 3 is not on the exchange’s 2026 holiday calendar.
Rigetti is known for big swings, one of the few public quantum computing trades out there. Quantum computing, still in early days, relies on qubits to do specific tasks that classical machines struggle with. The latest move in the stock tracked as traders looked over new insider filings while quantum shares got a lift from recent policy news.
Filings out June 1 and June 2 detail new insider trades in stock and warrants. A Form 144 shows director Michael Clifton wants to sell 156,250 warrants, worth around $2.28 million, and reported a May 21 sale of 50,000 warrants for $500,000.
Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni sold 61,000 shares on June 1 after exercising options, according to a Form 4. The weighted average price was $24.3781. The filing said the sales helped pay for option exercise costs or taxes.
Chief Technology Officer David Rivas sold 499,328 shares on May 29, Form 4 filings showed. The sale came after he exercised options, at a weighted average of $25.396. After the deal, Rivas held 325,945 shares.
The filings don’t directly indicate a shift in Rigetti’s business outlook. Still, they hit a stock that’s already driven by government funding, technical goals and retail interest.
Rigetti said May 21 it signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Commerce Department for as much as $100 million over three years to fund its superconducting quantum-computing R&D. The company said the plan includes the government getting an equity stake. Kulkarni said the money could let Rigetti “tackle key scaling bottlenecks” more quickly. Rigetti & Co, LLC
Peers are moving as well. IonQ last traded at $71.40, up 3.1%. D-Wave Quantum was ahead 2.6% at $29.91. Quantum Computing Inc. was lower, down 1.2% at $12.25, based on the most recent prices.
D-Wave has a $100 million CHIPS Act funding proposal on the table with the Commerce Department that would see the company issue $100 million in common stock if both sides sign off on the deal. CEO Alan Baratz called it a “transformative moment,” a phrase that points to just how much the industry is relying on federal help. Business Wire
Rigetti remains a small operator. In the first quarter ended March 31, revenue came in at $4.4 million, with an operating loss of $26.0 million. Cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale investments totaled $569.0 million. CEO Kulkarni said the company is working on “disciplined execution” as it sticks to its roadmap. Rigetti & Co, LLC
Rigetti’s story is about its 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q machine and how it uses chiplets, so small processor units are connected instead of relying on a big chip. Rosenblatt Securities’ John McPeake wrote in Barron’s earlier this year that error rates have to fall for Rigetti, but he kept a Buy on the stock and put the target at $40.
But the risk is clear. Rigetti’s Commerce pact isn’t a final deal, and new equity sales might hit current shareholders. The company itself flagged that nothing is set on final agreements, timing, funding, tech targets, or customer shipments. If government funds get held up or tech results miss, shares trading well above actual revenue could slide fast.
The broader market is also showing some nerves. U.S. stock index futures held steady close to record levels on Wednesday, with oil moving higher as concerns around the Middle East stayed in focus, according to Reuters. This sort of backdrop tends to keep high-growth, loss-heavy tech names vulnerable if risk appetite shifts.
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