Needham & Company LLC Cuts D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) Price Target to $40.00

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) had its target price trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on QBTS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Wedbush started coverage on D-Wave Quantum in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $43.00 target price on D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised D-Wave Quantum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, D-Wave Quantum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

D-Wave Quantum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE QBTS opened at $18.73 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.24 and its 200 day moving average is $24.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.03 and a beta of 1.56. D-Wave Quantum has a 1-year low of $4.45 and a 1-year high of $46.75. The company has a current ratio of 54.68, a quick ratio of 54.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 million. D-Wave Quantum had a negative net margin of 1,444.10% and a negative return on equity of 67.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that D-Wave Quantum will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at D-Wave Quantum

In related news, Director John D. Dilullo sold 8,000 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.36, for a total value of $218,880.00. Following the sale, the director owned 27,803 shares in the company, valued at $760,690.08. The trade was a 22.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rohit Ghai sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.28, for a total transaction of $242,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,249.84. The trade was a 20.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,074,466 shares of company stock worth $31,558,806 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in D-Wave Quantum by 41.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,454,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,220,000 after buying an additional 11,218,255 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 541.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,089,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,737,000 after acquiring an additional 10,205,427 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,394,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,085,000 after acquiring an additional 866,405 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,707,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,540,000 after purchasing an additional 385,809 shares during the period. Finally, Marex Group plc bought a new stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.47% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting D-Wave Quantum

Here are the key news stories impacting D-Wave Quantum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Material bookings and enterprise traction — Management reported Q4 bookings of $13.4M (big sequential jump) and said January bookings topped $30M; the company also disclosed large Advantage2 system sales and institutional contracts that underpin future revenue upside. MarketBeat: Despite a Double Miss
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash runway following the Quantum Circuits acquisition — D-Wave finished the period with roughly $885M in cash & marketable securities even after the acquisition and cash outlays, which reduces near-term financing risk while the company invests in R&D and go-to-market. MarketBeat: Cash Position
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings materials and call transcripts are available for investors who want details on bookings composition, margin outlook and integration plans; the call provides color but no immediate catalytic guidance. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain largely constructive but are resetting targets — several firms kept buy/outperform ratings while trimming targets, leaving consensus upside but lowering near-term sentiment. Benzinga: Analyst Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Double miss on the quarter — reported EPS missed estimates (wider loss than expected) and revenue of $2.75M came in below consensus, highlighting that current monetization remains small and lumpy. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Post-earnings price-target cuts and investor rotation pressured the rally — several firms trimmed targets (examples: Needham, Mizuho, Roth) and media noted an initial pop that faded as analysts lowered targets and investors weighed long-term promise versus weak near-term results. The Motley Fool: Reaction

D-Wave Quantum Company Profile

D-Wave Quantum Inc (NYSE: QBTS) develops and provides quantum computing systems, software and services focused on quantum annealing technology. Headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, D-Wave designs specialized processors that leverage quantum mechanics to solve complex optimization and sampling problems. Since its founding in 1999 by physicists including Geordie Rose, the company has pursued the development of commercially viable quantum hardware and accompanying software tools.

The company’s product portfolio centers on its quantum annealers, which are complemented by hybrid solvers that integrate classical and quantum computing resources.