D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) Trading Up 6.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) rose 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $18.02 and last traded at $17.81. Approximately 16,313,089 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 30,640,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on QBTS. Zacks Research upgraded D-Wave Quantum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Mizuho boosted their price target on D-Wave Quantum from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on D-Wave Quantum from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

D-Wave Quantum Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.53. The company has a quick ratio of 21.31, a current ratio of 21.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.76 and a beta of 2.11.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. D-Wave Quantum had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a negative net margin of 2,957.23%.The firm had revenue of $2.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 80.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that D-Wave Quantum Inc. will post -0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rohit Ghai sold 13,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total transaction of $357,010.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,724.97. This represents a 36.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John M. Markovich sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $5,142,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,142,820 shares in the company, valued at $29,381,902.20. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,360,772 shares of company stock valued at $35,737,111 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS Group AG increased its stake in D-Wave Quantum by 541.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,089,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,737,000 after buying an additional 10,205,427 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 136,842.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,194,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,546,000 after acquiring an additional 3,192,533 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,548,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685,980 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc boosted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,592,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of D-Wave Quantum by 41.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,648,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,762 shares during the last quarter. 42.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About D-Wave Quantum

D-Wave Quantum Inc (NYSE: QBTS) develops and provides quantum computing systems, software and services focused on quantum annealing technology. Headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, D-Wave designs specialized processors that leverage quantum mechanics to solve complex optimization and sampling problems. Since its founding in 1999 by physicists including Geordie Rose, the company has pursued the development of commercially viable quantum hardware and accompanying software tools.

The company’s product portfolio centers on its quantum annealers, which are complemented by hybrid solvers that integrate classical and quantum computing resources.