D-Wave Quantum’s Order Backlog Swells to $42.4M, But Revenue Conversion Remains the Stock’s Defining Test
Published on 07/20/2026 at 12:43 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The narrative around D-Wave Quantum has rarely been more split. On one side, the quantum-computing specialist is racking up orders at a pace that would make most growth companies envious: first-quarter bookings hit $33.4 million, up roughly 2,000% year over year, while total remaining performance obligations reached a record $42.4 million — a 563% jump from the prior year. On the other side, the stock has been hammered, shedding nearly 31% in the past 30 days alone and trading 61% below its 52-week high of €38.48. The market is effectively betting that the order flow will take time — perhaps a long time — to translate into real revenue.
That skepticism is grounded in the numbers. D-Wave generated just $2.86 million in revenue in the first quarter, well short of the $4.19 million analysts had expected and roughly 81% below the same period a year earlier. The operating loss widened to $54.7 million from $11.3 million, though the per-share loss of $0.05 beat the consensus estimate of a $0.08 loss. Over the trailing twelve months, revenue of $12.4 million stands against a net loss of $368 million. Investors are waiting to see whether the record backlog — dollars that customers have committed but D-Wave has not yet recognized — will begin to convert meaningfully when the company reports second-quarter results in early August.
Amid this tension, the company is pressing ahead with two significant structural moves. It will leave the New York Stock Exchange after the close on July 24 and begin trading on the Nasdaq under the same ticker, QBTS, on July 27. CEO Alan Baratz described the voluntary switch as a way to sit alongside the high-growth technology names that have traditionally made the Nasdaq their home. The company says it meets all listing requirements and does not expect any trading interruptions.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying D-Wave Quantum?
On the research front, D-Wave is deepening its push into gate-model quantum computing, an area distinct from its established annealing technology. Its subsidiary Quantum Circuits received roughly $1.57 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation for the “ERASE” project in collaboration with Yale University, aimed at developing fault-tolerant quantum hardware. That grant supplements a larger $100 million state funding package and the January acquisition of Quantum Circuits, underscoring the dual strategy that D-Wave executives see as essential for long-term credibility in the sector.
Insider activity has drawn attention, though much of it is less dramatic than it appears. On July 14, Baratz sold 52,320 shares at a weighted average price of $18.66, netting about $976,291. The sale was a “sale-to-cover” — an automatic transaction to satisfy tax obligations when restricted stock units vest. Such moves are routine and carry no signal about management’s view of the stock. But the context matters: Baratz had already sold 687,627 shares in June at $26.13, and Director John Dilullo disposed of 7,850 shares at $24.43. In total, D-Wave insiders have sold roughly 1.36 million shares worth about $35.7 million over the past three months. That puts the company inside a broad U.S. trend: corporate insiders sold $77.6 billion worth of stock in the first half of 2026 while buying back just $6.9 billion — an 11-to-1 ratio that is the second-highest in over two decades.
Analyst sentiment, however, remains largely positive. Among 17 brokerages covering D-Wave, 14 rate it a buy, two a hold and one a sell, with an average 12-month price target of $36.80. Mizuho recently raised its target to $35, Needham reaffirmed $40, and Northland sits at the cautious end with $22. A narrower survey of 13 analysts produced 12 buy ratings and a consensus target of $38.27, implying roughly 129% upside from the stock’s level at the time of that analysis.
Technically, the stock looks stretched. At €14.96 on the latest trading day, up 1.87% in the session, the relative strength index of 32.6 points to oversold territory. That can amplify small positive catalysts, though the fundamental question remains: when will the orders start showing up in the income statement? The Nasdaq listing and the August earnings report are the next two markers on that road.
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