Why Rigetti Computing Stock Soared 45.2% Last Year and Has Kept Gaining in 2026

Despite volatile trading, Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) stock managed to close out 2025's trading with big gains. The company's share price rose 45.2% in 2025, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 16.4% and the Nasdaq Composite's gain of 20.4%.

Rigetti stock actually started last year with a big sell-off in response to comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about the timeline for the commercialization of quantum computing technologies, but it regained ground after Huang adopted a more optimistic outlook later in the year. Some big new partnerships also helped supercharge the stock.

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Rigetti stock surged thanks to new deals and integrations

Rigetti stock traded below its 2025 opening price for much of the year, but it got some big valuation boosts in the back half of the stretch. The first major valuation surge for the stock occurred in September and stemmed from news that Regitti had signed a three-year, $5.8 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory. Through the deal, Rigetti is working with Dutch quantum-tech start-up QphoX to research and develop quantum networking technologies.

Rigetti stock soared again the following month after the company announced that it had entered into a collaboration with Nvidia. The announcement revealed that Rigetti had signed on to support Nvidia's NVQLink platform for the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers and quantum tech.The news caused the quantum-computing specialist's share price to sky rocket, but it lost ground in November and December as concerns about valuations for high-risk AI and quantum stocks spurred sell-offs.

Rigetti stock has been on a roll in 2026

Rigetti stock has continued to bound higher early in 2026's trading, with gains of 15.7% across the stretch trouncing the S&P 500's gain of 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite's 1.2% gain. Quantum stocks have seen strong bullish momentum year to date, and positive analyst coverage has also played a role in Rigetti's gains.

On Jan. 14, Rosenblatt initiated coverage on Rigetti with a buy rating. John McPeake, the investment firm's lead analyst on the stock, gave Rigetti a one-year price target of $40 per share and pointed to the quantum specialist's approach to qubit scaling, internal fabrication capabilities, and partnerships to support quantum error correction as positive catalysts. As of this writing, the price target suggests 56% upside potential.

Rigetti stock posted sales of $5.22 million across last year's first three quarters, which was actually down substantially from the $8.52 million in revenue it recorded across the same period in 2024. Bullish investors and analysts are betting that the company will post substantial sales growth in 2026 and beyond, but the business's commercialization pathway could continue to be uneven.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.