Policy support and early commercial deals are drawing investor attention, but profitability remains years away.
Quantum computing and the companies building it could become one of the most disruptive technologies of the next decade. Potential applications span artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and drug discovery. Unlike traditional computers, quantum systems use the laws of quantum mechanics to solve certain problems far faster than today’s machines.
For investors, that long-term promise comes with significant uncertainty. As of 2026, most quantum computers remain in research and development, and truly commercial systems are likely years away. Still, steady technical progress, greater cloud access and growing interest from large technology companies have brought quantum computing stocks into sharper focus.
In May, the U.S. Commerce Department said it would provide a total of $2 billion in grants to nine companies at the cutting edge of quantum computing, including International Business Machines Corp. (IBM). The federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act are intended to accelerate solving the most critical technology challenges in the race to develop utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. IBM has committed more than $10 billion of its own money to quantum over the next five years.
Pure-play quantum companies are also generating revenue, signing commercial contracts and deploying systems. IonQ Inc. (IONQ) reported more than $80 million in second-quarter revenue, up 287% year over year. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) saw a 1,120% increase in first-half bookings. Those figures do not tell the whole story, however: D-Wave’s second-quarter revenue was essentially flat year over year, and many pure-play quantum companies remain unprofitable, including IonQ.
For investors, milestones matter more than flashy qubit counts. The important milestones are improvements in error rates and fidelity, along with revenue growth and profitability. Investors should also look for evidence outside the laboratory: paying customers, increasing quantum-computing revenue, repeat contracts, cloud usage, system deployments and partnerships with major enterprises.
IonQ (IONQ) went public in 2021 through a merger with special purpose acquisition company dMY Technology Group III, becoming the first publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company. It develops quantum computing hardware and says its systems are available across all major public cloud services. IonQ plans to build a network of quantum computers accessible via the cloud and targets rapid near-term growth as researchers begin using its hardware on a larger scale. It partners with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. SoftBank Group, the Japanese telecommunications and technology investor, has also invested in IonQ. The company has generated minimal revenue and is not yet profitable. It will need to keep spending heavily on products and the business for at least a few more years. Still, its first-quarter 2026 order backlog was $470 million, up 550% from a year earlier. That is a substantial start, but investing in the start-up remains speculative. If its research succeeds, the stock could be a profitable way to invest in quantum computing, but investors should be cautious. It is still a start-up business, and its valuation is often high.
D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) offers a different approach. Instead of separate ions, it relies on superconducting loops with strong magnetic fields. Annealing circuits work together in groups, drawing on interactions among their energy states to find patterns. The method still requires extreme cooling, and the system is complex, working only under sophisticated error-correction setups. But annealing systems can become extremely powerful under the right circumstances. In particular, annealing circuits can provide a better starting point for quantum gate calculations. D-Wave’s quantum computers could therefore become a standard addition to more ambitious quantum gate systems. That is a unique strategy. D-Wave’s stock is richly valued despite lackluster revenue and negative profit margins. Investors should be careful with these financially unstable specialists.
Quantinuum became a standalone company in June 2026, when Honeywell International spun off its quantum computing business. Honeywell’s quantum unit has a longer history than the recent spinoff suggests. In 2021, the unit merged with Cambridge Quantum Computing to form Quantinuum, which operated as a Honeywell subsidiary until the 2026 IPO. The company builds trapped-ion quantum computers and the software stack that runs on them. Honeywell remains the controlling shareholder and continues to supply hardware and infrastructure. The financials tell an early-stage story: Quantinuum generated $30.9 million in revenue in 2025 against a net loss of $192.6 million. In the second quarter of 2026, it reported $8 million in net revenue against a GAAP net loss of $597 million. The company had $2.1 billion in cash as of June 30, 2026.
Nvidia is the global leader in advanced semiconductor design, using graphics processing units to accelerate computing. It is helping develop quantum computers with its GPUs while retaining leadership in sophisticated circuit design. Nvidia is also a leader in AI and machine learning. It has released cuQuantum, a software development kit designed to help developers build workflows on quantum computing. The idea is to use a digital toolkit to control next-generation quantum systems and simplify the transition from one computing era to the next. On the hardware side, Nvidia has the DGX Quantum architecture, which pairs its most advanced GPUs with quantum hardware developed by start-up Quantum Machines. It is aimed at researchers advancing quantum computing. Nvidia’s quantum work has wide-ranging uses, from jet engine efficiency breakthroughs to rapid drug and healthcare development.
IBM has its own quantum computing chips and systems, available for commercial use through its IBM Quantum business unit. More than 200 research organizations and companies use IBM’s quantum computing services, ranging from financial services businesses to automakers to energy producers. In 2021, IBM struck a deal with government contractor RTX to develop AI and quantum computing for the aerospace, defense and intelligence industries. The U.S. government will be a top customer of the research collaboration. IBM combines an innovative product portfolio with modest stock gains compared with some other quantum computing and AI experts.
The financial uncertainty surrounding quantum companies is one of the strongest arguments for choosing quantum computing exchange-traded funds. No one knows which companies will ultimately thrive, so the safest bet is a diversified one. But not all quantum ETFs provide the same level of exposure or diversification.
The Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) is a way to bet on quantum without wagering everything on a handful of speculative start-ups or paying a premium. It holds 86 stocks and has amassed about $5.6 billion in assets, while charging a 0.40% expense ratio. The fund is designed as a broader, diversified way to participate in the quantum and machine-learning ecosystem. It extends beyond pure-play quantum names to include machine learning, semiconductors, software and other advanced-computing companies. That balance is important because it is not yet known which quantum architecture or company will ultimately win.
The WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM) takes a different approach. Its benchmark index, developed with quantum software specialist Classiq, scores companies based on how relevant quantum is to their business and identifies them as pure players or diversified innovators. It then tilts weight toward companies with higher scores. That gives pure players such as IonQ and Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI) prominent positions while also including established names such as IBM and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). With less than $340 million in assets, it is not the biggest quantum ETF available, but a 0.45% expense ratio makes it one of the more cost-effective.
Investors should look under the hood and ask how much of a portfolio is actually tied to quantum computing and how much is quantum plus the relevant quantum ecosystem. The best quantum ETF depends on how much diversification versus concentration an investor wants, and how much risk and volatility that investor can stomach.
