Rigetti Computing Q3 Disappoints, But Analysts Praise 'Real Engineering Progress'

Rigetti Computing Inc (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares fell in early trading on Wednesday, after the company that produces integrated circuits for quantum computers reported its third-quarter results. Here are some key analyst takeaways:

• Needham analyst Quinn Bolton reiterated a Buy rating, but cut the price target from $31 to $15.
• Rosenblatt Securities analyst John McPeake reaffirmed a Buy rating and a $40 price target.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Needham: Rigetti’s third-quarter results are below Street expectations. Bolton blamed the timing of system deliveries. He also highlighted the following:

• The company achieved its target of 99.5% accuracy for its Cepheus-1-108Q system.
• It expects to deploy a larger over-300Q system with higher accuracy of around 99.7% by mid-2028.
• Rigetti is on track to deliver a 108-qubit system to India’s C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) in late 2026 and expects to sell four-to-six systems in 2027.
• The company has secured up to $100 million in funding from the US Department of Commerce.

"The >300Q system represents an intermediate milestone on the path toward a >1,000Q system, targeted for launch in ~3 years, which management believes will be capable of quantum advantage," the analyst further wrote.

Rosenblatt Securities: Although Rigetti Computing delivered lower-than-expected revenue, with pressure due to machine timing, this was "a quarter of real engineering progress," McPeake said. The company achieved 99.5% accuracy on the 108-qubit Cepheus system ahead of its year-end goal and announced a 300-plus qubit system targeting about 99.7% fidelity by mid-2028, he added.

Management guided to 2026 revenues of around $20 million, which assumes customer acceptance of the $8.4 million machine for India’s C-DAC in the fourth quarter, the analyst stated.

"We continue to think Rigetti is likely to ship more machines in 2027 than in 2026, and we like the steady progress on error rates," he further wrote.

RGTI Price Action: Shares of Rigetti Computing had declined by 5.19% to $11.52 at the time of publication on Wednesday.

Image: Shutterstock