New York, May 31, 2026, 11:01 (EDT)
- Rigetti ended Friday at $25.54, dropping 5.5% over the shortened week. Shares saw choppy trading.
- Rigetti could get as much as $100 million from the U.S. Commerce Department under a $2.013 billion quantum-computing program.
- New SEC filings at the end of the week showed planned insider sales, adding to stock supply investors could watch as trading picks up again.
Rigetti Computing slipped into the new week after Friday’s 5.5% drop to $25.54, wiping out part of a sharp rally tied to U.S. government support. Despite a 9.8% surge on Thursday, the shares finished about 3.3% lower for the week.
Weekend stocks wrap: U.S. cash equity markets are closed Sunday, after a Memorial Day-shortened week that started with markets shut May 25. The next test will be Monday, with traders watching if Washington’s investment proposal is enough to keep the quantum rally going.
The stock is still in focus, and it’s not only about the price. The Commerce Department said it signed letters of intent with nine companies for $2.013 billion in incentives tied to the CHIPS and Science Act. Planned funding also extends to quantum firms building out utility-scale, fault-tolerant systems — machines designed to handle real-world calculations and fix the errors that today’s technology can’t.
Rigetti said it has a letter of intent for as much as $100 million over three years, looking to speed up R&D in superconducting quantum computing. These superconducting systems rely on extremely cold circuits to generate qubits, which are the core units of quantum information.
Chief Executive Subodh Kulkarni said the investment lets Rigetti address “key scaling bottlenecks more rapidly” and aim for utility-scale quantum computing. Bulls grabbed the quote for trades, but the deal isn’t final.
Check the details. In a May 21 filing, Rigetti said it and Commerce still need to finalize transaction agreements, and the government is set to get Rigetti shares tied to the award size. The shares would price off the lowest close from one of three dates, minus a 15% discount.
That’s the catch. The funding might ease cash strain, but it could leave current holders with a smaller stake if Rigetti issues more shares. The company also said final deals, timing, technical hurdles and customer deliveries might not match what it expects now.
Competition is uneven. IBM is set for $1 billion tied to a quantum foundry, while D-Wave expects $100 million for work on superconducting quantum systems. Rigetti is also in the federal group but doesn’t match IBM’s size.
Rigetti is still early-stage on fundamentals. For the first quarter, the company posted $4.4 million in revenue and an operating loss of $26.0 million. Cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale investments totaled $569.0 million as of March 31. After the quarter, Kulkarni said Rigetti would keep its focus on “disciplined execution against our roadmap.” That covers improving fidelity and building bigger systems. GlobeNewswire
Big expectations are priced in. StockAnalysis showed Rigetti with a market cap near $8.49 billion as of Friday’s close, while trailing revenue was $10.02 million and 332.4 million shares were outstanding.
New Form 144 filings at the end of the week put more on traders’ radar. A May 29 notice showed officer David Rivas planning to sell 499,328 shares. Another filing, dated May 28, had CEO and director Subodh Kulkarni planning to sell 43,190 shares. Form 144s show planned sales of restricted or control stock but don’t confirm that all shares were actually sold.
Looking to the week ahead, what happens with the stock will likely depend on actual news—things like the specifics of any awards, new filings, and whether buyers are sticking around for a company with revenue still in the millions. The next official stop for Rigetti is its online shareholders meeting set for June 9.
