D-Wave Quantum's Backlog Is Exploding — So Why Is the Market Punishing the Stock?

D-Wave's bookings surge 1,120% to $35.5M, but shares fall 21.7% amid CFO exit, wider losses, and cash burn.

The disconnect between D-Wave Quantum's commercial momentum and its share price has rarely been starker. Bookings for the first half of fiscal 2026 surged 1,120 percent to $35.5 million, and remaining performance obligations jumped 668 percent to $40.7 million. Yet the stock sits roughly 16 percent below its 50-day moving average of €17.01, having shed 21.7 percent in the three weeks since a key board appointment — and the company's own leadership churn is doing little to steady investor nerves.

A Finance Chief Exits, a Board Member Arrives

The most immediate flashpoint came on August 25, when D-Wave announced that CFO John Markovich would retire effective September 2 after five years in the role. The market's response was swift: the shares lost 16.6 percent within a week. Greg Golkov, who has served as Senior Vice President of Finance since May 2023 and brings more than 25 years of technology-sector experience — including prior stints navigating transitions at public companies — steps in as interim CFO.

Just days earlier, on August 17, the company had welcomed Kevan P. Krysler, currently CFO at Carbon Robotics, to its board of directors and audit committee. The timing reads as a deliberate effort to reinforce financial oversight at the governance level precisely when a vacuum is opening at the operational finance helm.

Adding to the narrative, Sophie C. Ames, D-Wave's chief people officer, sold 23,850 shares on August 17 at $21.17 apiece, a transaction worth roughly $505,000. The mandatory filing characterizes the sale as a non-discretionary transaction tied to tax obligations arising from an RSU vesting agreement — an automatic consequence of expiring equity awards rather than a deliberate vote of no confidence. Such sales are routine at tech firms with deep employee stock programs, though their clustering alongside other leadership events inevitably invites scrutiny.

Growth in All the Wrong Places

The Q2 results, published August 6, paint a portrait of a company whose order intake is racing ahead while its income statement stalls. The operating loss more than doubled year over year to $54.7 million from $26.5 million, while quarterly revenue held essentially flat at roughly $3.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in at a loss of $37.1 million, an 85 percent widening from the prior-year figure.

First-half revenue actually declined 67 percent to $5.9 million — though that comparison is distorted by a one-off $13.7 million system sale in the prior year. Strip that out, and the underlying picture is one of a business still finding its commercial footing.

There is, however, a genuine bright spot in the customer mix. Commercial clients accounted for 67.7 percent of first-half revenue, up sharply from just 16.0 percent a year earlier. Nearly half of all revenue now comes from Forbes Global 2000 enterprises, a leap from 7.5 percent to 48.5 percent. For those who believe quantum computing is migrating from research labs into real-world corporate applications, these figures offer tangible evidence.

Cash Burn and a Costly Acquisition

The balance sheet tells a more sobering story. Liquid assets stood at $546.2 million as of June 30 — a third lower than a year earlier, with more than 90 percent of that decline attributable to the acquisition of Quantum Circuits in January. The company's cash position has effectively been financing its growth ambitions at a moment when operational losses are compounding.

On the technology front, meanwhile, there are credible proof points. NTT DOCOMO rolled out a second production quantum application from D-Wave on August 18, this one optimizing tracking area lists in its mobile network. The company also secured 300,000 Canadian dollars from the National Research Council of Canada in August to develop graph-embedding algorithms destined for its Ocean SDK. These are meaningful endorsements — but they remain modest in scale relative to the company's burn rate.

A Stock Caught Between Promise and Proof

The market's skepticism is quantifiable. Zacks Research downgraded the stock from "Strong Buy" to "Hold" on August 21. The relative strength index sits at 37.9, hovering near oversold territory. The shares trade below both their 50-day average of €17.00 and their 200-day average of €18.80, having more than halved from their October 2025 peak and fallen 38 percent since the start of the year. The 30-day volatility reading of 107 percent underscores just how turbulent the ride has been.

The stock closed Tuesday at €14.26 and was last indicated at €14.21 — a level that suggests the short-term downtrend has yet to reverse. For a company whose valuation hinges on converting a swelling backlog into actual revenue, the next milestone is the third-quarter report, scheduled for November 5. That will offer the first clear read on whether Golkov's interim stewardship can hold the financial lines steady — and whether D-Wave can finally close the gap between what it promises and what it delivers.