D-Wave Quantum: Bookings Up 1,120%, Two Systems Due, and Two Analysts Trimming Their Targets

D-Wave Quantum heads into its third-quarter report with a split-screen story. Demand signals are running hot, the technology roadmap is widening, and yet two research houses have just pulled in their price targets while leaving their buy ratings untouched. The company will report on November 10, before the market opens.

The bookings line is the loudest number in the bull case. D-Wave booked $35.5 million in the first half of 2026, a jump of 1,120% year over year. Converting that pipeline into recognized revenue is the next test, and the calendar matters as much as the contract value.

Two Systems, Both Likely in Q4

D-Wave expects to deliver two systems in 2026, probably both in the fourth quarter. The stated price range is roughly $20–40 million per system. A single shipment therefore carries outsized weight for the top line, and the timing of those deliveries is a key swing factor for how the year closes.

On the recurring side, quantum-computing-as-a-service revenue reached $1.9 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 50% from a year earlier. That segment is the clearest read on whether customers keep using the technology beyond one-off hardware purchases. According to The Motley Fool, productive applications are accounting for a growing share of quantum cloud revenue — a sign of deeper commercial traction, provided it translates into repeat paying relationships.

A Two-Platform Bet

D-Wave runs quantum annealing and, after its acquisition of Quantum Circuits, has added a gate-based approach. The dual-platform strategy broadens its technical footprint; the economic payoff depends on how successfully customers put each system to work.

One concrete hook is the agreement with AT&T, intended to expand use of the technology in network operations. The company also launched a learning path on applied quantum optimization with three courses — a smaller item, but one aimed at making the technology easier to adopt.

Product development offered another data point. D-Wave announced improvements to its hybrid Stride solver on Wednesday. By the company's account, the upgraded version found better solutions within 15 seconds in benchmark tests, versus 120 seconds for the prior version. The claim is a tangible technical marker, though its weight rests on how the advantage holds up under real-world conditions.

The Analysts: Still Positive, Less Generous

The ratings and the targets have parted ways. Wedbush cut its price target on Wednesday to $30 from $37 while keeping an "Outperform" rating. On November 2, B. Riley Securities' Craig Ellis reduced his target to $27 from $40, with the buy recommendation also left in place.

Both moves point the same direction: confidence in the franchise intact, expectations for near-term upside dialed back. For investors weighing the stock, that combination argues for watching the operating numbers rather than leaning on the ratings alone.

Sentiment around the sector has been supportive. D-Wave shares gained 19% on Friday, swept up in a broader quantum rally that media reports tied to IonQ's quarterly results and its raised revenue outlook. Sector tailwinds improve the mood; durable conviction, in the eyes of the more cautious read, has to come from D-Wave's own results.

What November 10 Has to Show

The third-quarter release is the next hard checkpoint. Two things matter most: how convincingly the business performance underpins the positive analyst stance, and whether the outlook supports the expected year-end deliveries.

If the numbers carry that confidence, the technical progress — the faster solver, the broader platform, the AT&T work — earns more weight in the valuation. If the operating case comes in weaker, the trimmed targets will look like the more prescient signal. Until then, the balance of evidence favors caution: real technical strides and intact buy ratings on one side, lower price objectives and an unproven delivery schedule on the other.