NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:47 ET — Market closed
- Rigetti closed down 8.6% on Friday, with other quantum-computing stocks also sliding.
- U.S. stocks ended slightly lower in a thin post-Christmas session, as investors took profits after a short rally.
- Traders head into Monday watching for “Santa Claus rally” follow-through and any year-end updates from quantum firms. Reuters+1
Rigetti Computing shares slid 8.6% to $22.38 in Friday’s regular session, retreating as quantum-computing stocks pulled back into the final week of the year.
The move matters now because year-end trading tends to magnify swings in high-volatility stocks, while investors reassess crowded themes ahead of 2026. Reuters described Friday’s broader tape as light-volume and catalyst-thin, a backdrop that can sharpen moves in speculative corners of the market.
Other “pure-play” quantum names fell in tandem. IonQ dropped about 7.6%, D-Wave Quantum slid about 8.1% and Quantum Computing Inc fell about 6.5% in the same session.
Wall Street finished nearly flat on Friday after the Christmas holiday, with all three major U.S. indexes ending marginally lower. “We had a very strong five-day rally, so in a way we’re just simply catching our breath today after the holiday,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. Reuters
Traders also kept an eye on the seasonal “Santa Claus rally,” a term for gains in the S&P 500 during the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new one. Reuters said that window began on Wednesday and runs through Jan. 5. Reuters
Rigetti traded between $22.34 and $24.51 on Friday and saw about 28.3 million shares change hands, according to market data.
Rigetti builds superconducting quantum computers and sells access to its machines through cloud services. Quantum computing uses “qubits” — quantum bits that can behave differently from the 1s and 0s in today’s chips — which researchers hope will help in specialized problems such as simulation and optimization.
For investors, near-term attention remains on whether quantum firms can turn technical progress into repeatable commercial revenue. With the sector’s shares swinging sharply day-to-day, traders have increasingly treated the group as a high-beta gauge of risk appetite.
Rigetti has previously said it aimed to release a 100+ qubit chiplet-based system before the end of 2025, putting the spotlight on any year-end technology update.
Macro expectations are also in focus. A Reuters markets report on Monday pointed to investor attention on U.S. Federal Reserve rate-cut bets, with traders looking for fresh confirmation from upcoming Fed minutes and labor-market data.
Before the next session, traders will watch whether Rigetti can stabilize above Friday’s low near $22.34 and reclaim Friday’s high around $24.51, levels that mark the immediate range after the pullback.
Investors are also looking further ahead to the next earnings update. Rigetti has not announced a reporting date yet, but Zacks lists the next release as expected around March 4, 2026.
With just three trading days left in 2025 and thin holiday liquidity still hanging over the tape, moves in quantum stocks are likely to remain sensitive to any sector headlines — and to the tone of the broader market when trading resumes Monday.
