D-Wave Quantum: Public Funding Flows In From Two Continents as Bookings Rocket Past $35 Million
Published on 08/13/2026 at 15:11 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The juxtaposition could hardly be starker. D-Wave Quantum has just reported first-half bookings growth of more than 1,120 percent year over year, taking the figure to $35.5 million, while simultaneously securing fresh public research funding from both the Canadian and U.S. governments. Yet the share price remains stubbornly below its 200-day moving average, and insider selling continues to cast a shadow over the operational momentum.
It is a picture of a company that is winning on multiple fronts—commercial, scientific, and political—but still struggling to fully convince the market.
The Order Book Tells a Growth Story
The numbers from the second-quarter report are difficult to dismiss. Remaining performance obligations—the contracted revenue still to be delivered—jumped 668 percent to $40.7 million in the same period. D-Wave also noted that production revenue from its Quantum-Computing-as-a-Service offering accounted for 37.3 percent of total QCaaS revenue in the first half, a sign that the business is moving beyond pilot projects into repeat usage.
The stock, however, has not fully participated in the enthusiasm. Trading at €17.91, the shares sit roughly 6.0 percent below their 200-day average of €19.05, suggesting the medium-term trend has yet to turn decisively higher. The German closing price on Wednesday was €17.96, up 2.5 percent on the day, and the stock has gained 8.0 percent over the past 30 days. But year-to-date, it remains about 21 percent in the red, with annualized volatility running at a punishing 105 percent.
Insider Sales Temper the Optimism
Part of the market's caution can be traced to recent insider activity. Over the past 90 days, executives have been net sellers to the tune of roughly $1.74 million, with CEO Alan Baratz and CFO John Markovich among those trimming positions. Media reports have framed these transactions as a potential warning signal, and they have contributed to short-term selling pressure—even if the operational fundamentals tell a different story.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying D-Wave Quantum?
The tension between the explosive bookings growth and the insider sales is likely to be a central theme when management takes the stage at two upcoming investor events: the Needham 7th Annual Virtual Semiconductor & SemiCap Conference on August 20, followed by the Deutsche Bank 2026 Technology Conference in Dana Point, California, on August 27. These appearances offer a chance to address institutional investors directly and push back against the skepticism.
Two Governments, Two Technology Tracks
On the funding front, D-Wave is now drawing public money from both sides of the border. The National Research Council of Canada has approved up to CAD 300,000 (roughly $299,000) under its Applied Quantum Computing Challenge Program. That money will go toward developing graph-minor-embedding algorithms for D-Wave's Zephyr topology and integrating them into the company's open-source Ocean SDK. The work is being carried out at the Quantum Centre of Engineering Excellence in Burnaby, with the goal of enabling larger, more complex optimization problems on Advantage2 systems with more than 4,400 qubits—targeting applications in logistics, manufacturing, finance, machine learning, and quantum simulation.
Trevor Lanting, who leads technology development at D-Wave, stressed that software innovation is critical to expanding the performance and commercial impact of quantum computing. The comment underscores a broader strategic shift: D-Wave is increasingly looking to software tools, rather than hardware advances alone, to commercialize its annealing-based approach.
Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation in the U.S. has confirmed a $1.57 million grant for the ERASE project, a fault-tolerant quantum computing initiative led by Yale University. D-Wave participates through its subsidiary Quantum Circuits, providing access to a superconducting dual-rail gate-model system—a technology distinct from the parent company's annealing heritage. The project also emphasizes workforce development for the quantum sector.
Add to that a letter of intent for $100 million under the CHIPS and Science Act, and D-Wave is positioning itself to secure public capital across multiple programs rather than relying solely on commercial revenue.
A Scientific Milestone in Nature
The funding announcements arrived alongside a notable scientific achievement. D-Wave published research in the journal Nature on a fast, high-precision two-qubit gate for superconducting dual-rail cavity qubits—a component that industry observers say could contribute to error correction in quantum computers. The publication lends credibility to the company's broader technological roadmap, even as its core business remains annealing-based.
D-Wave Quantum at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
What the Market Makes of It All
Analysts remain cautiously constructive. The consensus rating is "Moderate Buy," with price targets from firms including Wedbush and Cantor Fitzgerald reaching as high as $40. The current share price leaves considerable upside if those targets are to be met, but the path there is unlikely to be smooth given the volatility profile.
The grants themselves are modest in financial terms—the Canadian contribution is barely a rounding error against the bookings figures—but they carry symbolic weight. They signal that government institutions in two countries see merit in D-Wave's technological direction, both in its established annealing business and in the newer gate-model work being pursued through Quantum Circuits.
For investors, the central question remains whether the operational momentum can eventually overpower the headwinds of insider selling and a share price that has yet to reclaim its longer-term trend. The upcoming conference appearances may offer some clarity—or at least a platform for management to make its case.
Ad
D-Wave Quantum Stock: New Analysis - 13 August
Fresh D-Wave Quantum information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
