The U.S. Commerce Department has finalized CHIPS Act funding awards that hand the federal government minority, non-controlling equity stakes in two quantum computing recipients.
Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) jumped 6% to $16.13 in early trading, while D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) climbed 5% to $17.46 on matching award terms.
Both companies signed definitive agreements with the Commerce Department for $100 million each to accelerate quantum research and development under the CHIPS Act.
The wider quantum sector is barely participating in the move, with the Defiance Quantum ETF (NASDAQ: QTUM) up just 1% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY) sits down 0.12%.
Rigetti’s funding covers three specific projects: miniaturized readout electronics, a new cryostat architecture to expand cryogenic capacity, and fabrication for high-connectivity chip architectures.
On the Q2 2026 earnings call, Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni stated, “The overall goal of this $100 million is to accelerate our roadmap.”
D-Wave finalized an award on the same $100 million terms, also carrying a minority, non-controlling government equity stake, building on letters of intent Commerce outlined in May.
The May announcement covered $2.013 billion distributed across nine quantum companies, including two foundries and seven system developers, making today’s definitive agreements the culmination of that process.
Rigetti’s superconducting roadmap targets roughly 1,000-qubit systems with 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity over approximately three years, while D-Wave’s annealing roadmap targets 20,000 qubits by 2029 and 100,000 qubits by 2031.
Despite today’s gains, the year-to-date scorecard remains punishing for both recipients, with Rigetti down 26% and D-Wave down 33% since December.
Both companies hold substantial cash cushions heading into the awards, with Rigetti sitting at roughly $541 million and D-Wave at about $546 million as of the end of Q2 2026.
Peer quantum stocks IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) and Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ: QUBT) are also trading higher alongside the two funded names, though on separate catalysts.
IonQ raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $280 million to $290 million after closing its SkyWater Technology acquisition and is hosting an investor day at the New York Stock Exchange today.
Quantum Computing Inc., a photonics-focused peer carrying a $42.5 million contract backlog as of June 30, received no Commerce Department award in this round.
Investors assessing the funded names will need to weigh the dilution attached to the government equity stake against the multi-year research runway that $100 million per company provides.
