Thinking About Buying Rigetti Computing Stock? Here's What You Need to Know

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) stock might be down 37% in the last six months, but to some, that might mean it's a bargain. The trouble is that it's precisely the kind of investment that could easily lose another 37% from here -- or, under the right set of conditions, do the exact opposite and go on a sharp rally.

So if you're considering buying Rigetti's shares, there are a few things you need to know first to make sure you understand what you're getting into.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

This business is still young

The first thing to know about this company is that Rigetti makes quantum computers and sells access to them. But because many of the potential customers for such computers are researchers or governments due to the immaturity of the field, it's just getting started penetrating the market, which could grow tremendously over the coming decades.

Rigetti pulled in $4.4 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2026, up from $1.5 million in Q1 2025, mainly from its deliveries of on-premises Novera quantum processing units and government contracts. For 2025, its full-year revenue was $7.1 million, down 34% from 2024 thanks largely to the lumpiness of the money it gets from grants and milestones. At a market cap near $5 billion, that's a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of more than 490, and the odds of it generating profits in the near term are nil.

But with $569 million in cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investments, no debt, and a $26 million quarterly operating loss, Rigetti has at least a few years of runway from here, even if its expenses balloon (which they likely will). Management just committed up to $100 million in spending to a U.K. facility that's looking to operate one of its 1,000-qubit (quantum bit) systems in the next three to four years.

For now, watch the headlines

Rigetti thus has the money to buy some time, but it's a long way from selling its systems profitably. As a result, the stock is going to be highly dependent on favorable catalysts for quite some time; its financial fundamentals aren't going to be enough to drive its price.

On the catalyst front, things are proceeding decently.

Rigetti's 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q system launched on major cloud services in Q1. The company also joined the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative of the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, receiving a $1 million award for Stage A, and last September it won a $5.8 million Air Force Research Laboratory contract. Those may be small-dollar values, but they're useful as a signal that Rigetti is continuing to build working relationships with the government entities it'll need to sustain it for the foreseeable future.

If you decide to invest in this stock, be ready to hold it for at least five years. Over the coming quarters, see whether commercial orders start to pick up; if there's significant traction, it could mark the start of a more fundamentals-driven phase for the stock.

Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.