D-Wave Stock Sets Intraday High After Quantum Computing Gets Fresh Vote of Confidence

Based on a survey conducted by D-Wave Quantum and Wakefield Research, 53% of business leaders plan to incorporate quantum computing into their workflows. (Courtesy D-Wave)

Shares of D-Wave Quantum set an intraday high Monday after quantum computing got a vote of confidence from business leaders, marking a key development for an industry that trades largely on sentiment.

Before the stock market opened Monday, D-Wave unveiled the results of a survey conducted in conjunction with Wakefield Research, a market research firm. The partners polled 400 business leaders across North America, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific in May.

Based on the results, 53% of respondents—most of whom were familiar with quantum computing—said they were planning to add quantum computing into their workflows, while 27% “were considering doing so.” The vast majority of business leaders surveyed, at 81%, said they believed they had reached the limit of the optimization benefits classical computers could provide.

D-Wave stock was up 1.4% at $19.15 on Monday. The stock traded as high as $20.56 during the session, marking an intraday record. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were up 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively.

While it’s impossible to gauge investor sentiment from one survey, the results were just the latest indicator that quantum computing is attracting global interest as it steadily progresses beyond a laboratory setting.

Researchers have sought to prove quantum supremacy, or a quantum machine’s ability to outperform classical computers, using problems heavily rooted in science. Companies like D-Wave and Honeywell-owned Quantinuum have claimed to show success with tasks such as materials modeling and random number generation.

However, commercial clients tend to use the technology to refine areas of their business. This pattern was reflected in the survey, as a majority of respondents said they expect to see a benefit from an investment in quantum in the area of supply chain and logistics, followed by manufacturing.

The results are in line with what other surveys have suggested. Privately held QuEra polled 770 academics, scientists, and people adjacent to the quantum computing industry in December 2024.

While the overwhelming majority of respondents were academics from the U.S., the poll revealed similar attitudes. Over 65% of organizations said they were “prepared or very prepared to adopt quantum computing” within the next two to three years.

Results also indicated that quantum usage was “expected to grow significantly” in Asia, with respondents anticipating a 27.3% increase compared to 16% in Europe and the U.S.

While D-Wave got a boost on Monday, shares of pure-play peers weren’t seeing the same benefit. IonQ , Rigetti Computing , and Quantum Computing were down 3%, 3.3%, and 5.8%, respectively.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com