D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) Stock: Weekend Read After the 8% Drop, Wall Street Price Targets, and What to Watch When Markets Reopen – ts2.tech
New York time check: As of 3:17 a.m. ET on Saturday, December 27, 2025, U.S. markets are closed for the weekend.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is heading into the final stretch of the year with the kind of price action that makes quantum-computing stocks famous (or infamous): fast rallies, sharp pullbacks, and headlines that can move sentiment quickly.
The latest quote available from the market data feed shows QBTS at $25.29, after a -$2.24 move versus the prior close (roughly -8.1%, based on the change and implied previous close), with 33.6 million shares traded and a session range of $24.775 to $27.79. The most recent trade in the feed was timestamped 00:59 UTC on Dec. 27 (which corresponds to 7:59 p.m. ET on Friday, i.e., late after-hours).
Because it’s Saturday, the next key question for investors is less “what can I do right now?” and more “what matters before Monday’s open?”
Friday’s tape was broadly quiet at the index level, but not at the single-stock level—especially in high-beta, story-driven corners of the market like quantum computing.
Market commentary outlets that tracked the session noted D-Wave falling more than 8% on the day, even as the broader market stayed close to flat in post-Christmas trading. [1]
That combination—index calm + single-name turbulence—is common during the last trading days of December, when liquidity can thin out and individual order flow can have an outsized impact on price.
Two big context points are shaping how traders interpret moves like Friday’s in QBTS:
Post-holiday trading is often characterized by lighter volume and fewer major scheduled catalysts, which can exaggerate day-to-day moves in volatile names. Barron’s described the market as trading on light volume as it reopened after Christmas, with no major economic reports driving the session. [2]
Russell Investments has also highlighted that market participation typically declines into late December, a setup that can widen spreads and make price moves look “louder” than the underlying fundamentals. [3]
On December 10, 2025, the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds target range by 0.25 percentage point to 3.50%–3.75%, citing a shift in the balance of risks and elevated uncertainty in the outlook. [4]
Rate cuts can be supportive for long-duration growth narratives (the kind often attached to emerging tech), but they can also come with a “yeah, but why are they cutting?” mood if investors think the economy is slowing. Either way, the macro picture matters because quantum stocks often trade as sentiment vehicles, not just cash-flow stories.
One reason D-Wave stands out among pure-play quantum names is that it has emphasized commercial activity, bookings, and deployments—metrics markets can at least try to anchor on.
In its Q3 2025 results (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025), D-Wave reported:
That cash number is especially important for investors to keep in mind going into 2026: in a sector where many companies are pre-profit and spending heavily, liquidity and dilution risk can drive sentiment as much as technology milestones.
A major late-2025 headline for D-Wave is its formal push to expand government-focused activity.
On December 2, 2025, D-Wave announced it formed a U.S. government business unit and named Jack Sears Jr. to lead it as vice president of U.S. government solutions. The company framed the move as a response to rising demand for quantum applications in defense-related and public-sector problems such as logistics and transportation. [6]
D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz said the company aims to “facilitate the rapid development of quantum applications” for national security, defense, and infrastructure challenges (company statement). [7]
The release also pointed to real deployment footing: D-Wave said its Advantage2 system was operational at the Alabama headquarters of Davidson Technologies, positioning it for mission-focused use cases. [8]
For markets, government-facing initiatives can cut two ways:
This is where the weekend homework gets interesting, because QBTS is a stock where expectations can move faster than fundamentals.
Investor’s Business Daily reported that Evercore ISI initiated coverage on D-Wave with an “Outperform” rating and a $44 price target, citing factors like commercial revenue, ecosystem positioning, and liquidity (IBD report). [11]
That kind of initiation matters in a momentum-heavy sector, because it can:
A widely syndicated Nasdaq.com piece (from The Motley Fool) argued that D-Wave’s commercial traction and customer count make it “less speculative” than some quantum peers—while still emphasizing that the stock is highly speculative and valued aggressively relative to near-term revenue. [12]
That tension—real activity, but very early economics—basically is the QBTS story in one sentence.
On the other side of the debate, Trefis published a note suggesting QBTS could plausibly fall further—floating a bearish scenario down to $18 and pointing to the recent pullback from late-December levels. [13]
Whether you agree or not, it’s useful because it highlights what skeptics focus on: valuation sensitivity, drawdown history, and how quickly “hot narrative” stocks can cool off.
Because the exchange is closed now, the actionable edge comes from preparation. Here’s what typically matters most for QBTS going into Monday:
The NYSE core trading session runs 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Liquidity and spreads can look very different outside those hours. [14]
Why it matters for QBTS: high-volatility names can gap on thin premarket volume, and those gaps sometimes reverse once full liquidity returns.
Quantum names often move in sympathy on risk-on/risk-off shifts. Recent sector coverage has highlighted how quickly sentiment can rotate across the group—IonQ, Rigetti, and others—especially after sharp runs. [15]
Practical takeaway: if QBTS moves Monday, check whether peers are moving too. A basket move implies sector sentiment; a solo move implies stock-specific news/flow.
If you’re holding through volatility, it helps to keep a short list of “real” fundamentals to revisit:
D-Wave’s Q3 release is explicit that warrant-related accounting effects materially impacted the GAAP net loss figure. [16]
D-Wave said its Qubits 2026 user conference will take place January 27–28, 2026 in Boca Raton, Florida—events like this can generate partnership announcements, customer case studies, or roadmap updates that shift near-term sentiment. [17]
For the next formal financial update, Zacks lists D-Wave’s next expected earnings report date as March 12, 2026 (dates can move, but it’s a widely watched placeholder). [18]
Even if nothing company-specific drops, the macro setup can still move QBTS:
As of early Saturday morning in New York, QBTS is coming off a sharp down day, but the broader setup is bigger than one session: D-Wave has demonstrated rising revenue and bookings off a small base, a very large cash balance, and a string of government- and deployment-oriented headlines—while the stock remains extremely sentiment-driven and prone to fast drawdowns. [21]
For Monday’s reopening, the most useful investor mindset is less “predict the next tick” and more “know what would change the story”:
1. www.investors.com, 2. www.barrons.com, 3. russellinvestments.com, 4. www.federalreserve.gov, 5. www.dwavequantum.com, 6. www.dwavequantum.com, 7. www.dwavequantum.com, 8. www.dwavequantum.com, 9. www.tipranks.com, 10. www.zacks.com, 11. www.investors.com, 12. www.nasdaq.com, 13. www.trefis.com, 14. www.nyse.com, 15. finance.yahoo.com, 16. www.dwavequantum.com, 17. www.dwavequantum.com, 18. www.zacks.com, 19. russellinvestments.com, 20. www.federalreserve.gov, 21. www.dwavequantum.com
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