Nearly midway through 2026, quantum computing stocks are easily outperforming the broader stock market, with the benchmark S&P Kensho Global Quantum Computing Technologies Index up 69.3% as of the end of May, compared with the S&P 500’s 10.7% gain over the same timeframe.
That’s no surprise to industry analysts, who keep upgrading their outlook on the quantum computing industry, according to the State of the Global Quantum Industry 2026 report by the Quantum Economic Development Consortium. The report is bullish on industry growth, pegging a 30% annual growth rate (to $3 billion) by 2028, with a higher growth trajectory anticipated once quantum advantage is demonstrated for business-relevant problems.
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QEDC estimates that the quantum sensing market will grow by 32% through 2028, with growth in quantum communications and security products not far behind. Additionally, more than 50% of quantum industry companies anticipate at least an 11% increase in revenue from 2025 to 2026, doubling the gain from 2024 to 2025, with 37% of companies surveyed projecting more than a 25% increase in revenue, the report indicates.
Other industry experts agree, stating that commercial use of the technology, along with broad U.S. government support, should keep quantum stocks on an upward trajectory. “We are experiencing the most well-funded times in the sector’s history,” says Anupam Satyasheel, founder and CEO at Occams Advisory. On May 21, the U.S. Commerce Department announced over $2 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding across nine quantum companies, in exchange for equity stakes in each recipient, with International Business Machines Corp. (ticker: IBM) as the $1 billion anchor.
“Revenue is increasing, too: IonQ posted Q1 2026 revenue of $64.7 million, up 755% year over year,” Satyasheel says. “But we’re still in the NISQ era. Commercial applications that can justify current multiples are expected by 2030.” (NISQ stands for noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing.)
Other technology analysts say the market is at a point where artificial intelligence and quantum computing are starting to merge and prosper. “Individually, they are each generational technologies,” says Elmer Morales, CEO and founder of Koder AI, a multi-agent coding platform for non-technical people and professional coders. “Combined, they are something we don’t have a word for yet. That’s the bet I am making, and I think the smartest people in the industry are making the same one.”
The funding reflects that confidence. “We’re seeing serious capital behind players with credible hardware roadmaps, and the timeline debate has shifted from ‘Will this work?’ to ‘Which architecture gets there first?,'” Morales says. “That is a meaningful maturation signal.”
Morales says he’s watching the quantum computing industry closely, because the moment it hits practical error-correction milestones, the implications for everything downstream become enormous. “The market is not pricing in a near-term breakthrough, which is probably appropriate,” he says. “But the long-term thesis has never been stronger.”
Which industry stocks look best prepared to harness quantum computing growth? These eight names have separated themselves from the pack:
| Stock | Market Capitalization | YTD Performance* |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | $2.8 trillion | 17.3% |
| Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) | $3.4 trillion | -6.5% |
| D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) | $11.1 billion | 15.3% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | $5.3 trillion | 13.3% |
| IonQ Inc. (IONQ) | $26.2 billion | 60.6% |
| Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI) | $8.4 billion | 15.3% |
| International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) | $305.4 billion | 1.7% |
| Quantinuum Inc. (QNT) | $13 billion (est) | N/A |
*As of May 31 market close.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
This technology giant is inching closer to a $3 trillion market cap (it stood at $2.8 trillion as of May 31).
Amazon is busy enough in the quantum industry, but it’s making more cash in the AI realm, primarily through Amazon Web Services, which saw its most recent year-over-year revenue rise by 28%, its highest level since 2022. AMZN’s custom chip development channel is also boosting profits, with growth tracking at triple digits in the first quarter of 2026.
That’s all good news for Amazon’s quantum computing operation, which is gaining steam most recently with its Ocelot quantum chip. The chip, developed at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in partnership with researchers at the California Institute of Technology, was rolled out in February 2025.
Ocelot is specifically targeting quantum error correction, widely considered the biggest obstacle to practical quantum computers achieving commercial market success. That scenario could end soon, as the company expects Ocelot’s architecture to reduce the resources required for error correction by up to 90% compared with more conventional quantum computing efforts.
In a recent research note, Amazon touted Ocelot as Amazon Web Services’ pioneering effort to develop, from the ground up, a hardware implementation of quantum error correction that’s both resource-efficient and scalable.
“We believe that scaling Ocelot to a full-fledged quantum computer capable of transformative societal impact would require as little as one-tenth as many resources as common approaches, helping bring closer the age of practical quantum computing,” the company reports.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Like Amazon, Microsoft continues to accelerate in the quantum space, with its April partnership deal with Quantinuum a shining example.
According to an April 3 announcement, a collaboration between Quantinuum’s team in the U.S. and U.K. and Microsoft’s quantum computing team “has led to the creation of four logical qubits that demonstrate error rates 800 times lower than corresponding physical error rates.” That’s a big deal to quantum investors, as the joint effort shows the company’s quantum teams run 14,000 independent instances of a quantum circuit error-free.
Pulling the lens back, Microsoft’s quantum strategy is different from high-profile competitors like IBM, Google, IonQ and Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI), which are largely focused on building increasingly powerful quantum computers; Microsoft is betting that the winning architecture will be one that dramatically reduces errors, making quantum machines commercially useful sooner.
Microsoft is also seeing progress through Majorana 1, the company’s first quantum processor built around so-called topological qubits. The company says the chip uses a new material system called a “topoconductor,” designed to make qubits more stable and less error-prone. In its internal reports on Majorana, Microsoft engineers note that this architecture could eventually scale to 1 million qubits on a single chip, a level that quantum scientists say is critical for solving meaningful industrial and scientific problems.
Investors may want to be realistic about MSFT’s quantum journey, impressive as it is. Currently, the company books approximately $200 billion annually from its software, cloud computing, gaming and AI channels, with its quantum operations still very much in the development stage. Down the road, say, from 2028 to 2032, Microsoft’s topological-qubit approach should prove valid and scalable for a wide variety of industries, such as pharmaceutical, manufacturing and defense, among others that could tap into Azure Quantum as a premium cloud service option.
As of May 31, the stock is down roughly 7% year to date, giving investors a chance to get into a quantum computing pioneer that already has deep pockets from other technology sectors. A consensus of Wall Street analysts tracked by TipRanks expects Microsoft stock to soar 32%, to about $557 per share, within the next year as net income and total revenues shift into a higher gear.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS)
Palo Alto, California-based D-Wave continues to deliver for its shareholders, with the share price up over 8% during the last week of May. What’s up with the latest QBTS wave? Analysts said the uptick came despite a spate of downbeat news that would have tanked many stocks.
Up first is D-Wave Chief Financial Officer John Markovich, who unloaded $9.1 million worth of QBTS stock amid rising options market volatility in D-Wave stock. Additionally, D-Wave found itself on the defense after a new Flatiron and Boston University research paper suggested a classical tensor-network algorithm using a laptop computer could handle the quantum research workload of the company’s much-ballyhooed Advantage 2 processor. D-Wave batted down the implication, noting the Flatiron paper’s research was severely limited in scope and ignored more complex high-level computing problems that D-Wave has demonstrated it could handle.
D-Wave is expected to receive $100 million as part of the government’s recent quantum funding deal. Share-wise, QBTS stock is up 15.3% for the year to date, but it’s up 44% over the past 30 days through May 31.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
IBM shares have picked up the pace with a 30% return over the past 30 days. Big Blue will rake in $1 billion from the U.S. Commerce Department deal, primarily to fund a new quantum chip foundry.
In late May, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives held his “buy” call on the stock, with a $320 price target. He and other analysts favor IBM as a more stable choice for quantum computing than some younger upstarts. That’s the case as IBM, like Amazon and Microsoft, has proven revenue channels in high-end technology markets like AI along with burgeoning demand for its software products. The rationale among Wall Street traders is that IBM doesn’t need quantum computing to explode this year or next, as profits are locked in other technology market channels. Pure-play quantum picks like D-Wave, Quantinuum and Rigetti can’t make that case on a comparable basis.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia shares continue to inch upward, with the stock up 13.3% year to date, boosted in part by Tigress financial analyst Ivan Feinseth, who recently noted that Nvidia “continues to be the core infrastructure engine of the AI factory era.”
That was just for starters, as Feinseth took a highly bullish view of Nvidia in a new research note: “NVDA is the must-own core holding for the AI investment cycle, positioned at the center of a global buildout of AI factories reshaping data centers, enterprise IT and the broader economy,” he states. “Its leadership in accelerated computing, spanning Blackwell-class GPUs, high-speed networking, tightly integrated systems and a CUDA-centric software stack makes NVDA the default AI platform across major clouds, leading frontier and open-source models, and a rapidly expanding range of enterprise and edge deployments.”
Nvidia is flexing its muscle in the quantum computing market, too. Nvidia launched “Ising” on April 14, which it claims is the first open-source AI model family designed specifically for quantum processor calibration and error correction. The company’s CUDA-Q open-source program is already widely used by quantum hardware developers, giving Nvidia the same middleware-market vibe in the quantum realm it’s already mastered on the AI semiconductor front. High-profile brand quantum research names like Academia Sinica, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Infleqtion, IQM Quantum Computers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Quantum Testbed and the U.K. National Physical Laboratory all have immersed Ising into their quantum research work.
Meanwhile, Nvidia has upped its game with its shareholders, boosting its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share while greenlighting a massive $80 billion stock-repurchase program. Nvidia reported $215.9 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026 (the year ended January 2026), up 65% from the prior year. Its data center business, which primarily comprises AI accelerators, AI networking and AI infrastructure, generated $193.7 billion, or roughly 90% of the company’s total revenue.
[Read: 7 Best Semiconductor Stocks to Buy for 2026]
IonQ Inc. (IONQ)
At $72, IonQ shares are booming in 2026, with the stock price up over 60% year to date. Skeptics point to IonQ’s first-quarter revenues of $64.7 million; a relatively quiet number compared to, say, IBM’s revenues, which clocked in at $15.9 billion for Q1. IonQ bears also note that while the College Park, Maryland-based quantum heavyweight has over $3 billion in cash and investments, it’s spending a lot of money to justify modest quarterly revenue figures. In the past year, for example, IonQ burned through over $80 million in cash on a quarterly basis.
Yet a closer look reveals IonQ is on track financially. While Q1’s $65 million revenue isn’t earth-shaking on its own, the figure is over 750% higher than the year-ago quarter, and that’s encouraging once you’ve committed to IonQ as a “pure play” quantum stock over more revenue-diverse competitors like Amazon or Microsoft.
IonQ has established itself as a significant player in quantum computing-as-a-service through cloud platforms. Investors may have to ride out a wave or two with IonQ, as consensus analyst price targets are on the low side. But if you buy into bullish price targets issued by B. Riley Securities ($100 per share) and Jefferies ($85 per share), you’ll be in good hands and likely have plenty of company.
Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI)
Berkeley, California-based Rigetti’s shares are up 44.3% over the past month. The company, which provides full-stack quantum computing services to a growing list of global enterprise, government and research clients through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform, is also in line for federal funding, garnering $100 million in the new Commerce Department deal. That funding is reportedly earmarked for more robust hardware scaling solutions, especially with improved readout electronics and cryogenic systems.
RGTI’s share price rose with investors’ confidence that the company’s engineers can meet the research and development requirements laid out by the Trump administration. But the company also benefits from a steady (and rising) flow of other government and defense contracts, contributing to stronger revenues, which tripled in the first quarter of 2026. Its 108-qubit Cepheus quantum computing system is drawing ample interest from major cloud computing companies. That list includes not only Amazon Braket and Microsoft Azure Quantum but also Astex Pharmaceutical, which has engaged with Rigetti on cloud-based quantum simulations for molecular structures and drug discovery, and South Korea-based Norma, which relies on Rigetti’s 84-qubit cloud network for its cybersecurity research and development.
Trading around $25 per share, with a consensus call from 12 tech industry analysts of $30, that implies more than about a 20% share price increase.
Watch for This Red-Hot Quantum Computing IPO
Most, if not all, quantum investor eyes are locked in on Honeywell spinoff Quantinuum Inc., which is set to list publicly soon with a sky-high $13 billion valuation. The company expects to raise $1.1 billion in the initial public offering, with Honeywell owning about 49% of the stock right out of the gate.
The Bloomington, Colorado-based quantum computing company, which was created in 2021 via the merger of Honeywell’s quantum computing unit and Cambridge Quantum, a U.K.-based quantum software firm, publicly filed its S-1 with the SEC earlier this month. The stock is expected to open trading in the $45 to $50 per share range, under the Nasdaq ticker QNT.
Typically, once the pricing range becomes public, IPO pricing and trading follow within one to three weeks, assuming stock market conditions cooperate and the SEC regulatory review goes as expected. Some industry reports see QNT going public as soon as the first week of June, partly fueled by the recent Commerce Department funding, which allocates $100 million to Quantinuum.
The company has spent the past few years trying to build a full-stack quantum computing platform, developing actual quantum computers, quantum software and developer tools, plus cybersecurity and encryption products, among other endeavors.
On the downside, revenues were shallow at $31 million in 2025, with net losses of about $193 million. That means QNT investors are betting that Quantinuum will grow into a quantum computing powerhouse, and that the broader quantum computing realm will become a foundational tech industry akin to artificial intelligence.
5 Rules for New Quantum Computing Investors
Newbie quantum investors who want a big leg up may want to take heed from Satyasheel, who offers some advice on gaining traction in the quantum investing space in the second half of 2026. Here’s a snapshot of his “quantum quintet”:
1. Cap quantum at 3% to 5% of a diversified portfolio. “Trailing gains of 712% to 5,700% in some names are more likely a speculative premium, as they are not fully validated as business models,” Satyasheel says.
2. Favor quantum ETFs before single stocks. “Unless you can distinguish trapped-ion from superconducting from photonic, you’re less likely to pick winners,” he says.
3. Respect the volatility. D-Wave jumped 33% and Rigetti leapt 31% in a single session on the CHIPS funding news. “Hence, dollar-cost average is a good tool here,” Satyasheel says.
4. Set a five-to-10-year investment horizon. “The payoff requires fault-tolerant systems running real workloads,” he states.
5. Track milestones, not narratives. “Focus on logical-qubit counts, error-correction thresholds, named enterprise contracts,” Satyasheel adds. “Quantum will create real winners, but there will be more losers than the current trend suggests.”
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8 Best Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy in 2026 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/01/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
