D-Wave Insiders Cash Out $25.6M as White House Elevates Quantum to National Priority

Despite $25.6M in insider stock sales, D-Wave Quantum gains from White House quantum orders, technical milestones, and analyst price targets up to $43. Stock down 17% YTD.

D-Wave Quantum has been riding a wave of government support. On June 22, the White House signed two executive orders that designate quantum computing a national industrial and cybersecurity priority, including a $100 million grant from the CHIPS and Science Act and a new program called QC-ADDS that will embed quantum systems in Department of Energy facilities. Yet while Washington is betting big on the sector, the company’s top executives have been doing the opposite — selling their own stock in size.

Chief executive Alan Baratz unloaded nearly 688,000 shares in early June, netting about $18 million after exercising heavily discounted options. He still holds more than three million shares. Finance chief John Markovich followed shortly after, selling in several tranches for a total of roughly $7.6 million, leaving him with around 1.24 million shares, a considerable portion of which remains unvested. Combined, the insider sales amount to $25.6 million — a move that might raise eyebrows given the surrounding optimism.

That optimism, however, is rooted in tangible technical milestones. On June 18, D-Wave unveiled a new fault-tolerant quantum simulator based on the gate-model, which will launch on its Leap cloud platform in September. Through its subsidiary Quantum Circuits, the company aims to operate 100 logical qubits by 2032. At the Qubits Europe 2026 conference in London, management reported that usage of the Advantage2 systems had surged 314% year over year, driven by hybrid quantum workflows in manufacturing and logistics. Separately, a controversy over Microsoft’s topological qubit claims on June 25 appears to have played to D-Wave’s advantage, with investors gravitating toward companies that have demonstrable milestones.

Wall Street analysts remain undeterred by the insider selling. Roth Capital recently lifted its price target to $40, while Rosenblatt sees the stock at $43. The consensus average stands at $38. The bullish case is further supported by an improving earnings outlook: analysts have revised their 2026 loss per share estimate from €0.31 to €0.25.

D-Wave reported first-quarter bookings of $33.4 million, nearly 20 times the prior-year figure. The strong order intake, however, came with a negative free cash flow of about $46 million, though the company’s cash pile remains sufficient to fund operations for now. The August quarterly report will be a key test — investors will be watching whether the booking momentum can be sustained and whether cash burn starts to narrow.

On the market, the stock closed Friday at €19.92, up 3.8% on the day but down 6.21% on the week. The monthly decline stands at roughly 16%, and the year-to-date loss is about 17%. The price sits just below its 50-day moving average of €20.19 and its 200-day average of €20.92. The relative strength index of 46.6 signals neutral territory, while the annualized volatility of 140% underscores the sector’s speculative nature. Longer-term holders can still point to a 66% annual gain, but the immediate technical picture remains tense as the market weighs a White House tailwind against a top-level cash-out.