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RGTI Surges 192% in a Month: Should You Hop Onto the Rally or Wait?

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Key Takeaways

  • Rigetti secured $5.7M in Novera system orders and a new U.S. Air Force contract, fueling its rally.
  • C-DAC collaboration expands Rigetti's hybrid quantum presence in Asia's growing tech market.
  • New Cepheus-1-36Q system halves error rates, advancing Rigetti's roadmap toward a 100-qubit design.

Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) is fast emerging as a serious quantum contender, backed by a string of recent milestones. In September 2025, the company secured purchase orders for its 9-qubit Novera systems and landed a new U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (“AFRL”) contract to advance hybrid quantum-classical solutions, signaling growing commercial traction beyond research projects.

At the same time, Rigetti expanded globally through a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to co-develop hybrid quantum systems. Together, these developments underscore Rigetti’s shift toward real-world applications and international collaboration, strengthening its position in the fast-evolving quantum computing race.

Rigetti’s recent 192% surge comes as competition in the quantum space intensifies. IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) is broadening its reach through strategic partnerships and scaling its trapped-ion systems. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS - Free Report) continues to push enterprise-focused annealing solutions, targeting practical optimization use cases. Meanwhile, Arqit Quantum (ARQQ - Free Report) is making strides in quantum-safe encryption, attracting investor attention. Against this backdrop, Rigetti’s global collaborations and hybrid quantum strategy stand out. The stock’s sharp rise reflects growing confidence in the company’s long-term vision and market positioning.

RGTI's Price Performance

RGTI stock has delivered a powerful rally in 2025, soaring 267.8% year to date, fueled by strong commercial and partnership momentum. QBTS has been the standout, surging 412.7%, while IONQ and ARQQ have gained 85.7% and 49.8%, respectively. In comparison, the Zacks Internet – Software industry has advanced a more modest 18.2%.

Against this backdrop, Rigetti’s sharp rise reflects renewed investor enthusiasm and improving confidence in its long-term growth prospects, positioning it as one of the top-performing quantum stocks of the year.

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What’s Powering Rigetti’s Remarkable Run

Growing Commercial Traction: Rigetti’s latest purchase orders mark a clear step toward monetizing its quantum technology. The company secured $5.7 million worth of contracts for its 9-qubit Novera systems, a milestone that moves it beyond research and into practical deployment. These orders, spanning both Asia and the United States, show that Rigetti’s hardware is starting to attract real-world customers.

Rigetti also received a new contract from the U.S. AFRL to advance hybrid quantum-classical computing solutions for defense applications. Together, these wins mark a clear shift from research-driven milestones to tangible commercial traction, signaling growing confidence in Rigetti’s scalable technology and its readiness for real-world adoption.

Expanding Global and Strategic Partnerships: On the partnership front, Rigetti’s collaboration with India’s C-DAC is helping the company tap into one of the world’s fastest-growing quantum markets. This alliance strengthens its presence in Asia and deepens its expertise in hybrid quantum systems. Combined with its ongoing academic work in the United States, these partnerships are not just about research, they are about building a network that can accelerate adoption and open commercial pathways globally.

For investors, this expanding global reach signals that Rigetti’s growth ambitions are well beyond its current footprint.

Relentless Push in Scalable Architecture: Rigetti recently introduced its Cepheus-1-36Q system, a 36-qubit multi-chip machine built from four interconnected chiplets, achieving a 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity and cutting error rates by nearly half compared to its previous design. The results show meaningful progress in Rigetti’s modular, chiplet-based scaling approach, strengthening confidence in its roadmap toward a 100-qubit system expected later this year.

RGTI’s Sales & EPS Growth

In 2025, Rigetti is expected to experience a 19.7% decline in revenues. On the profitability front, earnings per share are expected to remain negative, but with an improvement of 86.1% year over year.

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A Key Challenge for RGTI

Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Revenue: While Rigetti’s expanding partnerships and government-backed projects boost its global reputation, the company still struggles to turn these alliances into steady, large-scale commercial revenue. Most of its current wins come from research and defense programs that validate its technology but do not yet provide recurring income. For investors, the next phase of Rigetti’s journey hinges on scaling sales to enterprise clients and moving beyond pilot programs to repeatable, revenue-generating deployments.

RGTI Shares Look Overvalued

Rigetti’s stock is not so cheap, as suggested by the Value Score of F.

RGTI is currently trading at a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 32.88X, which is higher than the industry average of 6.6X.

RGTI Price-to-Book Ratio

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How to Play Rigetti Stock Now?

Rigetti remains an exciting but speculative player in the quantum computing space. Its expanding global collaborations and technical advancements in chiplet-based hybrid systems demonstrate solid long-term potential. However, commercial adoption is still in its early stages, and much of the company’s progress is tied to research and government programs rather than recurring enterprise revenues.

With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), Rigetti’s stock may demand a wait-and-watch approach for now. Investors should view it as a developing story, one that offers exposure to a promising technology frontier but also carries high execution risk. For those already holding shares, patience could pay off as Rigetti’s partnerships and U.S. defense contracts gradually translate into more stable commercial traction. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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