D-Wave Quantum Grapples With a Tale of Two Quarters as Record Orders Mask Revenue Woe

D-Wave shares drop over 7% as Q1 revenue plunges 81% year-over-year, but record $33.4M in bookings and $42M backlog offer hope. Analysts mixed; investor day and user conference upcoming.

On Friday, D-Wave Quantum shares took a hit, shedding more than 7% to close at €17.48. The sell-off wasn’t company-specific. The entire quantum computing sector came under pressure, dragging down rivals IonQ and Rigetti. Since the start of the year, the stock has lost about 27%, a decline that reflects the market’s growing impatience with near-term profitability in an industry known for its long development cycles.

That pattern was on full display in the company’s first-quarter earnings. Revenue collapsed 81% year over year to $2.9 million, falling short of Wall Street expectations. The culprit was a tough compare: in the year-ago period, a single large contract had inflated the top line. Exclude that, and the underlying business looked far less flattering. The net loss came in at $18.5 million, but that was better than analysts had feared — on a per-share basis, the loss was $0.05, less than the consensus estimate.

The silver lining, however, was hidden in the order book. New bookings soared to a record $33.4 million, dwarfing the prior-year figure. Two large deals drove the surge: a $20 million system order from Florida Atlantic University and a $10 million cloud contract with a Fortune 100 company. As a result, D-Wave’s backlog of performance obligations swelled to more than $42 million, a sum that already exceeds the total revenue the company expects to generate in all of 2025.

Against that backdrop, analyst reactions were mixed. Mizuho cut its price target to $29, while Canaccord trimmed to $41. Wedbush, however, stuck by its buy rating. No analyst currently recommends selling the stock, reflecting a cautious optimism that the order momentum will eventually translate into recognized revenue.

Investors got a closer look at the company’s strategy earlier this year through the acquisition of Quantum Circuits, a move that gives D-Wave a dual platform covering both annealing and gate-model architectures. Management has laid out a clear technical roadmap, targeting 100 logical qubits by 2032. The financing appears solid: D-Wave ended the quarter with $588 million in cash, a war chest that the company says will fund operations until it reaches profitability.

Looking ahead, June brings two critical catalysts. On June 1, D-Wave will host its first ever investor day at the New York Stock Exchange, where the leadership team is expected to defend its roadmap and articulate how the record backlog will convert into sales. Then on June 18, the company will hold a major user conference in London, showcasing real-world applications in front of European clients.

For now, the market is weighing a sharp disconnect between near-term revenue disappointment and long-term demand signals. The shares remain highly volatile — with an annualized volatility of 112% — but the order pipeline suggests that patience might eventually be rewarded.