D-Wave Quantum: A CFO's Exit Exposes the Tension Between a Bookings Boom and a Bruised Share Price

D-Wave Quantum's CFO resignation triggers sharp decline, but analysts stay bullish on explosive 2026 bookings and backlog growth.

The resignation of a chief financial officer rarely tells the whole story. At D-Wave Quantum, the departure of John Markovich has triggered a sharp sell-off — but the underlying narrative is far more complex than a single personnel change.

Markovich will step down on September 2 after five years at the helm of the quantum computing company's finances, a tenure that saw the firm raise over $900 million in capital, including its 2022 initial public offering. CEO Alan Baratz publicly thanked him for his contributions. Greg Golkov, who joined as SVP of Finance in May 2023, will take over on an interim basis — a transition the company frames as orderly rather than abrupt.

Investors, however, were in no mood for nuance. The stock fell 8.4 percent to €15.15 on Wednesday, with some reports putting the decline as high as 9.3 percent to a close of €15.04. The move suggests a market already on edge, using the CFO news as a release valve for broader anxieties.

A Stock That Has Lost Its Momentum

The price action tells a sobering tale. D-Wave's shares now sit roughly 63 percent below their 52-week high of €40.41, reached on October 15, 2025. Year-to-date, the stock is down 34 percent. While investors who bought in mid-2025 still enjoy a 15 percent gain over twelve months, the recent trajectory points firmly downward: the share price trades about 14 to 15 percent beneath its 50-day moving average of €17.67 and roughly 20 percent below the 200-day average.

That is not consolidation. That is a trend.

The Numbers Tell Two Stories

Beneath the market turbulence lies a fundamental disconnect. D-Wave's second-quarter revenue came in at $3.08 million, essentially flat year-over-year and well short of the $4.03 million analysts had penciled in. The adjusted loss per share of $0.13 also disappointed, coming in above the $0.09 consensus estimate (one source cites a $0.10 figure, slightly above expectations).

Yet the forward-looking metrics are nothing short of explosive. First-half 2026 bookings surged 1,120 percent to $35.5 million, though more than half of that total stems from a single system sale worth over $20 million. The backlog expanded 668 percent to $40.7 million. Commercial customers now account for 62.4 percent of quarterly revenue, up from 45.1 percent a year earlier.

This is a company selling the future, not the present — and Wall Street has largely bought into that vision.

Analysts Hold the Line

Despite the weak quarterly print, the analyst community remains predominantly bullish. Sixteen analysts rate the stock a Strong Buy on average, with a mean price target of $35.73 — more than double the recent US listing price of $17.79. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on August 21 with an Outperform rating and a $35 target, citing a Boston Consulting Group estimate of a $450 to $850 billion addressable market. The stock jumped 7.2 percent on that news. The same day, Zacks Research downgraded its stance from Strong Buy to Hold, shaving 1.1 percent off the share price.

Client names like Toyota, Deloitte, Mastercard, and Volkswagen underscore D-Wave's industrial traction, as does a $100 million US government investment in the quantum sector. The company also extended its partnership with Japanese telecom NTT DOCOMO, which has now deployed a second D-Wave application for network optimization in production. A grant of up to CAD 300,000 from Canada's National Research Council will support further development of annealing software for the Advantage2 systems.

A Sector Under Pressure

D-Wave is not alone in feeling the heat. Quantum computing peers IonQ and Rigetti have moved in lockstep with D-Wave, with all three names sliding on August 18 and again on August 24 — moves driven by rising bond yields and general risk aversion toward speculative tech, not company-specific news.

With an annualized 30-day volatility of 107 to 108 percent, D-Wave remains a vehicle for investors with strong stomachs. The company holds $546 million in cash, a solid cushion, though BMO notes that rival Quantinuum may offer a more compelling risk-reward profile with $8 million in revenue, $74 million in RPO, and $2.1 billion in cash, backed by clients such as JPMorgan, Airbus, and HSBC.

Governance Moves and the Road Ahead

Amid the turbulence, D-Wave has quietly strengthened its board. Kevan P. Krysler joined on August 17, bringing over 25 years of financial and accounting experience from roles including CFO at Carbon Robotics and NYSE-listed Everpure. He has also been appointed to the audit committee.

The CFO transition itself will likely prove a footnote in the company's longer trajectory. The real question — whether the explosive bookings growth can translate into actual revenue — remains unanswered. For now, D-Wave finds itself at a crossroads: the order book supports the long-term bull case, but the share price, the volatility, and the missed quarter all counsel patience.