This “Self-Feeding” Loop Can Make Quantum Computing Stocks Rally Much Longer Than You Realize

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Quantum computing stocks have been surging nonstop over the past year. Stocks like D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS), IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), and Rigetti (NASDAQ:RGTI) have corrected recently, but the market has seen several such corrections that were followed by an even bigger surge. It seems that quantum computing businesses have found themselves in the midst of a perfect storm of events, something that could actually make them sustainable.

It's no secret that Wall Street now sees quantum computing as the next logical "big thing" after AI. In fact, the narrative of quantum computing goes hand in hand with AI.

The theory is that AI models will get ever more powerful, requiring more and more compute, outgrowing anything classical computing has to offer. Inevitably, quantum computing companies will then step in and sell the remedy. That's obviously an ideal and linear set of events, and things are unlikely to turn out that way, but the prospect alone commands a massive premium.

Quantum computing stocks are on fire

The number of pure-play quantum computing stocks you can invest in is very narrow. You can count them on one hand. As a result, the market has been bidding up these stocks to extreme levels, and the valuation no longer seems to matter.

Why?

Exchange-traded funds, retirement accounts, and hedge funds now all view quantum computing as a critical element of their portfolios. Only a handful of names give them that exposure, and they're willing to pay the price for it.

And for quantum computing companies themselves, this is the perfect windfall at the perfect time. They've taken advantage of their rallying stocks to execute large at-the-market offerings.

For example, D-Wave Quantum has been able to lift its cash on the balance sheet from $29 million in Q3 2024 to $819 million in Q2 2025. IonQ has also increased its cash from $340 million at the end of 2024 to $543 million in Q2 2025. Rigetti's balance sheet had $93 million in cash in Q3 2024, but it ballooned to $426 million in Q2.

Quantum computing companies were in a tough state before the rally, and many of them would've run out of cash. Today, though, they each have multi-year cash runways.

The "self-feeding" loop

The biggest reason many investors don't invest in quantum computing companies is that they're risky. You're taking an extreme risk the moment you invest in a quantum computing company, as truly useful quantum computing remains a pipe dream.

Researching and possibly making them a reality is a capital-intensive task, something that would have driven these companies to a desperate state in short order if it weren't for the recent rally.

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Now, with quantum computing companies increasing their cash runways, the biggest risk is being mitigated. They have the cash to survive for years and can fund massive breakthroughs.

The cycle is as follows: stock rallies -> company raises cash through an equity offering -> investment thesis improves -> stock rallies more.

How long can it continue?

The surge in quantum computing stocks is inextricably linked to the AI narrative. If Wall Street starts souring on the AI thesis, quantum computing stocks will take a hit. This will break the cycle, but will still leave these companies in a far better shape.

With each of them having hundreds of millions of dollars on their balance sheets, the floor price will be far higher than before.

Every rally ends in a selloff, but when exactly this will happen is anyone's guess. If the government does invest in these companies as rumored or hyperscalers scale up their partnerships more aggressively, it can lead to even more parabolic gains.

In the meantime, these stocks are in cooldown mode, and I would wait for them to settle down before any opportunistic buying.

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