Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), a developer of full-stack quantum-classical computing systems, reported mixed financial results for the fourth quarter, with a revenue miss sending its shares 9% lower on Thursday.
Total revenue for the quarter was $1.87 million, below analysts’ estimate of $2.37 million.
The company reported a loss of $0.03 per share, compared with the consensus estimate of a $0.05 loss. This marked an improvement from a non-GAAP loss of $0.08 per share a year earlier.
For the full year, Rigetti reported total revenue of $7.1 million. Non-GAAP net loss came to $50.5 million, or $0.16 per share, while GAAP net loss reached $216.2 million, or $0.70 per share. At year-end, the company held $589.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investments.
Alongside its financial results, Rigetti highlighted progress in its quantum computing technology. The company demonstrated 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity at a 28-nanosecond gate speed on its prototype platform.
In a note post-earnings, Jefferies analysts wrote that Rigetti’s system sales cadence is strengthening and partnerships are supporting technological development.
The analyst believe “progress in speed and error rates, especially with proprietary adiabatic CZ scheme, and reaffirmed end of March deployment target for 108‑qubit system are encouraging.”
On revenue, Jefferies wrote that while December-quarter revenue came in slightly below Street estimates, management pointed to a sharp year-over-year step-up in March-quarter revenue driven by recognition of about $5.7 million in Novera on-prem system sales.
The firm highlighted early system sales building into 2026, including two Novera on-prem deliveries in the first half of the year, a Novera QPU sale to a Japanese research organization shipping in April, and an $8.4 million 108-qubit C-DAC system slated for the second half of 2026.
“Management reiterated its timeline to deploy the 108-qubit system by the end of March, and we view that delivery as the near-term tell that underwrites the next legs of the roadmap (>150 qubits by end‑2026 and >1,000 qubits by end‑2027),” the analysts wrote.
“Partnerships add credibility and should help technological development, especially with error correction. Net-net, we like the roadmap and the proof points, but RGTI remains a show‑me stock on execution.”
Jefferies maintained a ‘Hold’ rating on the company and set a $20 price target, down from $30.