After years of skepticism fueled by paltry revenue and short-seller attacks, Quantum Computing saw a shift in sentiment following its latest earnings report.
The company known as QCi posted $3.69 million in first-quarter revenue, outstripping the $3.13 million consensus among analysts polled by FactSet. The figure was sharply higher than the $39,000 reported in the same period last year.
QCi's loss from operations swelled year over year to $20 million from $8.3 million. The company posted a $4.1 million net loss in its latest quarter, compared with a profit of nearly $17 million in 2025. QCi attributed the change to a smaller accounting benefit from a previous merger, coupled with higher operating expenses.
And yet shares surged more than 15% in after-hours trading. Peer Rigetti Computing, which also reported earnings after the bell, was down 1.4%.
Quantum Computing stock has room to rise in 2026. Through Monday's close, shares have slipped 0.8% against a 16% gain for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100. Fellow pure plays IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Rigetti have traded mixed in 2026, with IonQ surging nearly 2028 and the others falling more than 7% each.
But Rigetti and D-Wave were among the biggest gainers in 2025 as far as quantum pure plays go. Rigetti gained 45% while D-Wave stock more than tripled. The Nasdaq 100 rose 20% over the same period.
QCi was a notable outlier, with its share price plunging 38%. In an industry where none of the pure plays are profitable, the firm's minimal revenue generation still managed to raise eyebrows.
The company has been dogged by concerns over a lack of clarity into its operations, including its progress on building an operational foundry in Arizona to manufacture thin-film lithium niobate chips for quantum systems.
QCi said Monday that the foundry, "currently purposed for research and development and prototyping," had begun to generate early revenue, though contributions weren't broken out in the report. The company added that it was looking to opening a second facility "with the goal of further expanding production capacity."
Short seller Iceberg Research alleged in late 2024 that the first facility was a tiny lab incapable of mass production, providing photos and floor plans to support its claim. To date, the company hasn't responded to these claims, and hasn't made its representatives available for comment when approached by Barron's
The company also faced leadership uncertainty following the departure of former CEO William McGann in May 2025, after which it went months without a permanent successor.
Yuping Huang, a member of the company's leadership team, served in an interim capacity until formally assuming the role in January of this year. In a statement Monday, Huang highlighted the recent acquisitions of Luminar Semiconductor and quantum optics company NuCrypt.
QCi completed the acquisition of Luminar Semiconductor in February. Parent company Luminar Technologies struck an agreement to sell the business after filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy last December.
The transactions will improve QCi's "path to scalable manufacturing" and bolster the company's portfolio of both quantum communications and photonics, Huang said.
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