D-Wave Quantum's Interim CFO Takes the Helm as the Market Demands Proof, Not Promise
Published on 09/02/2026 at 10:51 | Editorial boerse-global.de
The leadership change at D-Wave Quantum became official today, but the questions it raises about the company's trajectory are only beginning. John Markovich, who served as chief financial officer for five years, has departed, with Greg Golkov — previously senior vice president of finance — stepping in on an interim basis.
The company was quick to frame the separation as amicable, insisting it bears no connection to disputes over financial results or reporting obligations. Yet the transition lands at a delicate moment for a stock that has spent 2025 learning just how unforgiving the market can be toward companies whose technological ambition outpaces their commercial reality.
A Stock Caught Between Two Narratives
The tension at the heart of D-Wave's current predicament is stark. On one hand, the order book is exploding: first-half bookings surged more than 1,120 percent to $35.5 million, with the company pointing to two planned system deliveries in the fourth quarter that should convert much of that pipeline into recognized revenue. Commercial customers accounted for 67.7 percent of first-half revenue, up from 16.0 percent a year earlier, and Forbes Global 2000 clients contributed 48.5 percent, versus 7.5 percent previously.
On the other hand, the income statement tells a far more sobering story. Second-quarter revenue came in at roughly $3.08 million — essentially flat against the $3.10 million posted a year earlier and well short of the consensus estimate near $4.03 million. The operating loss doubled to $54.7 million, while the adjusted EBITDA loss widened 85 percent to $37.1 million. Adjusted losses per share of $0.10 also came in slightly worse than analysts had penciled in.
That disconnect between a booming pipeline and stagnant current revenue is the real key to understanding the share price. Investors are being asked to underwrite a promise that won't be fulfilled for several months, while the numbers on the screen today offer little comfort.
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Milestones That Move the Science, Not the Stock
The operational news flow has been genuinely encouraging for those focused on the technology itself. In early August, D-Wave published research in the journal Nature describing a fast, high-precision two-qubit gate that preserves the error-correction advantages of its superconducting dual-rail architecture — a signal that the company, long viewed primarily as a quantum annealing specialist, intends to compete in the gate-model arena where IBM and Google are spending billions.
Just over a week ago, NTT DOCOMO moved a second D-Wave-powered application into production, using the technology to meaningfully reduce signaling load on its mobile network. For a company generating only around three million dollars in quarterly revenue, such real-world deployments are more than anecdotal — they demonstrate the technology functions outside laboratory conditions.
Yet the market has greeted these developments with a shrug. The shares trade at €14.27, some 65 percent below the 52-week high of €40.41 reached last October. The stock is down 37 percent year-to-date and has shed 18 percent over the past month alone. After dipping to €11.12 in late March — essentially testing its 52-week low — the equity now sits far closer to its trough than its peak, with annualized volatility running at 107 percent.
Insider Sales and Shifting Institutional Support
Adding to the cautious mood are recurring insider transactions. Sales by chief people officer Sophie Ames in August, and by CEO Alan Baratz and other executives in July, have been characterized as technically driven — executed to cover tax obligations arising from share vesting rather than reflecting changed expectations. Whatever the motivation, the cumulative effect paints a picture of insiders regularly monetizing holdings while the share price erodes.
Institutional conviction has also wavered. The number of hedge funds holding the stock has fallen from 26 to 17, a retreat that coincides with a flurry of rating adjustments roughly three weeks ago. Zacks Research downgraded the shares from "Strong Buy" to "Hold," while Wall Street Zen lifted its stance from "Strong Sell" to "Sell" — hardly a ringing endorsement from either direction.
The Sector's Structural Problem
D-Wave's difficulties are not entirely of its own making. Quantum computing stocks have proven acutely sensitive to broader tech weakness, falling more sharply than the Nasdaq-100 on roughly 74 percent of the days this year when the wider technology sector declined. At nearly 150 times expected annual revenue, D-Wave's valuation bakes in years of growth that the current business — still mired in the low single-digit millions — has yet to deliver.
Markovich's departure adds a governance dimension to these concerns. He was instrumental in shepherding the company through its 2022 IPO and raising more than $900 million in capital, making his exit a notable loss of institutional knowledge even if the split is entirely collegial. The stock slipped 5.1 percent in the week following the announcement and the DOCOMO news, though both developments have since been absorbed.
What Golkov inherits is a company that has mastered the art of scientific credibility but has yet to convince the market of its commercial one. The bookings growth suggests demand is real; the revenue line suggests patience is required. For now, both narratives run in parallel, and neither has decisively won the argument.
