Quantum News Nexus

The real genius of the quantum technology sector is whoever gave Quantum Computing, Inc. (QCi) its name. What it lacks in imagination it more than makes up for in easy accessibility at a time when casual and seasoned investors alike are Googling “quantum computing stocks” like mad in an effort to join the recent buying frenzy.

Although, when you dig in and compare QCi (NASDAQ: QUBT) to other publicly-traded quantum computing stocks, one of the first things you will notice is the modest revenue, even by the standards of this young sector. The company reported just $61,000 in revenue in the second quarter of this year, a deep drop from the $183,000 it reported in the same quarter a year earlier. (Like many quantum companies, QCi has always cautioned about lumpy revenue in the early going.)

Still, with ambitions to be a full-stack quantum computing firm, QCi has irons in a lot of fires–software, which has been its main source of revenue thus far; sensing, where it has had some success with NASA and others; quantum-safe security, having late last month launched a “quantum-secure network” offering at ECOC 2025; and photonic quantum computing hardware, an area where it continues to mark technical progress. In addition, it is selling quantum photonic chips made in its own Tempe, Arizona, foundry. 

This week, QCi made a major funding announcement, saying institutional investors have agreed to buy more than 37 million shares of common stock at market prices in an oversubscribed private placement “expected to result in gross proceeds of $750 million, before deducting offering expenses.” The purchase is expected to be finalized later this week. 

“Total capital raised since November 2024 is now $1.64 billion, positioning QCi with the strongest balance sheet among publicly traded quantum computing companies and providing what we believe is sufficient funding to execute our current business plan through 2028,” said Dr. Yuping Huang, CEO and Chairman of the Board of QCi, in a statement.

As Huang hinted, QCi has made multiple announcements of private placements over the last year, and some observers have noted concerns about dilution of the stock. The latest news sent the company’s shares down more than 8% to around $22.50 on Monday, but don’t feel too bad for QCi shareholders: like its quantum fellows QCi is still riding a boom that has more than tripled its stock value in the span of six months.

QCi said it plans to use the net proceeds from the offering “to fully fund commercialization, pursue strategic acquisitions, establish volume production capabilities, expand sales and engineering personnel, working capital, and general corporate purposes.”

I’m going to pick out “pursue strategic acquisitions” as something that we are going to hear more about very soon. QCi is no stranger to M&A, having acquired photonics firm QPhoton and AI company millionways in recent years. 

Also, during the Q2 earnings call, QCI CFO Chris Roberts answered a question about M&A by saying in part that QCI already “in the process of talking with bankers and looking for opportunities that will enable us to fill out our technology roadmap, as well as accelerate revenue [generation].”

When executives at any public company are asked about M&A, they usually hedge on the side of caution. For example, Rigetti Computing CEO Subodh Kulkarni also faced multiple M&A-related questions during his company’s most recent earnings call, but has stuck to a line about Rigetti being more focused on R&D than M&A right now.

QCi seemingly is more focused on finding something to buy, and this funding gives the company quite a few dollars to work with. In terms of revenue, QCI is behind other pure-play, publicly-traded quantum technology companies, but this funding has bought it more time, and its next acquisition could buy it more revenue.

Quantum News Nexus is a new site from freelance writer and editor Dan O’Shea that covers quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, quantum-safe security, and more. You can find him on X @QuantumNewsGuy and doshea14@gmail.com.

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