Key Points
Clients are choosing other quantum computing technologies.
Rival IonQ has a more accurate platform.
Quantum computing is arriving faster than most investors realize. While 2030 is the date when many companies expect useful quantum computing to arrive, some in the industry have accelerated that to 2029. This means that now is the time to consider investing in some quantum computing pure-play stocks, as these could be slated to take off in the near future as the quantum computing race heats up again.
One company that is in this sector is Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI). Rigetti has had a tough year, just like most quantum computing stocks, falling around 50% so far in 2026. Overall, it's down around 80% from its all-time high (established last year at this time), so it has been a terrible fall from grace in a short time frame.
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The market is currently risk-averse, so it's not going to invest in some of the riskiest companies on the market. However, the time to buy quantum computing companies isn't at the top of the hype cycle; it's when everyone has forgotten about them. Is Rigetti a top one to buy now?
Image source: Getty Images.
Rigetti is falling behind
Rigetti is an early-stage quantum computing company, as it needs outside funding to continue innovating and developing its full-stack quantum computing system. One of these opportunities came recently, as Rigetti won a $100 million government contract under the CHIPS Act to work with the U.S. Department of Defense. That's a big contract win, and it will help Rigetti continue funding operations for a while.
Rigetti uses a superconducting quantum computing technique, which allows it to process workloads very quickly on its platform. This is in stark contrast to another quantum computing company, IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), which uses trapped-ion technology that is focused on accuracy rather than speed.Rigetti's biggest problem right now is accuracy. Its 108-qubit system has a two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.1%, or about nine errors in every 1,000 calculations. In 2027, IonQ expects to launch a 256-qubit computer that has 99.99% accuracy, or about one error in every 10,000 calculations.
That's a massive performance gap, and Rigetti needs to improve its accuracy to be competitive with IonQ. Computing accuracy and capacity are two of the biggest roadblocks in quantum computing right now. IonQ has major advantages in both, so this could cause early-stage quantum computing clients to shift toward IonQ's technology versus Rigetti's.
Clients recognize this, which is why IonQ's revenue is far greater. IonQ and Rigetti both recognize revenue from early-stage contracts, with IonQ generating $80 million in the second quarter versus Rigetti's $5 million. I think this tells investors everything they need to know about Rigetti Computing, and that is that it's falling behind its peers.
RGTI Revenue (Quarterly YOY Growth) data by YCharts.
This raises a red flag for me as a quantum computing investor, and I'd much rather own IonQ over Rigetti as a result.
Keithen Drury has positions in IonQ. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.