D-Wave Quantum's Order Book Outruns Its Share Price as Dilution Angst and a Class Action Loom

D-Wave Quantum is shipping real machines to paying customers and locking in the foundry capacity to build more of them. The equity, meanwhile, is doing something else entirely.

The stock has shed 54% since the start of the year, and on the latest session it gave up another 1.7% to close at 10.38 EUR — a slide that has less to do with D-Wave's own order flow than with a sector-wide chill. The trigger, according to media reports, was rival IonQ's announcement that it will acquire Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to USD 1.3 billion. Even though D-Wave has no part in that transaction, the all-paper structure revived investor anxiety about dilution across the quantum peer group, and the selling spread accordingly.

A 4,400-Qubit Machine Lands in Como

Against that backdrop, the operational news reads like a counter-argument. D-Wave's Advantage2 system, carrying more than 4,400 qubits, has arrived at Villa Saporiti in Como, Italy, where it is being installed. Swiss Quantum Technology SA is footing the bill under a EUR 10 million agreement between the two parties — a reminder that these systems are reaching their destinations and being paid for, rather than existing only as test rigs in research papers.

On the manufacturing side, D-Wave and SkyWater Technology agreed on 13 October to extend their production partnership by several years. SkyWater develops and runs specialised processes for D-Wave's superconducting quantum roadmap at its semiconductor fab in Minnesota. Neither company disclosed financial terms, and D-Wave's ownership rights remain protected under the contract.

The collaboration has already produced a tangible data point: deploying D-Wave's annealing systems cut delays on manufacturing lots at the SkyWater facility by as much as 30%. Quantum hardware helping optimise the very plant that builds it is the kind of feedback loop that gives a business model substance.

Insider Filings That Aren't News

Recent regulatory disclosures added another layer of paperwork, though little of substance. Several executives had shares withheld by the company to cover tax obligations tied to the vesting of restricted stock units — a standard administrative step in equity-based compensation, not a signal of conviction or its absence.

CEO Alan Baratz had 52,320 shares withheld, leaving him with a reported total of 3,195,131 shares including unvested RSUs. CFO Gregory Golkov surrendered 15,859 shares and holds 411,013. Chief Legal Officer Diane Nguyen had 4,066 shares withheld, while Chief Human Resources Officer Sophie Ames gave up 3,180.

The Courtroom Clock

Separately, a legal deadline is running for shareholders who believe they were harmed. US law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP has flagged that investors who bought D-Wave securities between 26 February and 25 August 2026 have until 15 December 2026 to seek lead-plaintiff status in a securities class action. The allegations underpinning the suit are claims, not facts established by a court.

For now, the gap between D-Wave's industrial progress and its market valuation is the story investors are being asked to price. Long-term foundry contracts and delivered hardware offer no protection against short-term swings. What they do show is a company working on its foundations — and the next phase will hinge on how quickly those partnerships and installed machines convert into recurring revenue.