Key Takeaways
- B. Riley cut its D-Wave Quantum price target to $27 from $40 on November 2 and kept its Buy rating. The stock is 73% below its 52-week high.
- D-Wave’s revenue was flat at $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2026 while its operating expenses rose 93%, and analysts are counting on two fourth-quarter system deliveries for most of 2026’s revenue.
- B. Riley’s $27 implies about 155x forward sales, a bit above D-Wave’s three-year average, and it depends on analysts’ forecast that 2027 revenue will nearly double.
- The call looks too optimistic for now, and D-Wave’s third-quarter report on November 10 is the first check on the sales growth it needs.
D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) fell 5% to $10.09 on November 2 after B. Riley cut its price target to $27 from $40. The firm kept its Buy rating, and even the lower target is 168% above where the stock now trades, 73% below its 52-week high.
D-Wave’s Revenue Hasn’t Kept Up With Spending
In its second-quarter report on August 6, D-Wave posted revenue of $3.1 million, flat from a year earlier. GAAP operating expenses rose 93% to $55.0 million.
D-Wave expects to deliver two systems this year, which then-CFO John Markovich said on the call are “likely to ship during the fourth quarter.” Analysts are counting on them for most of 2026’s revenue.
Then on October 15, shareholders filed a securities class action alleging D-Wave’s record 2026 bookings came mostly from two older contracts and that deliveries were slipping. The claims are unproven, but they concern the same fourth quarter D-Wave is counting on.
B. Riley’s $27 Sits Below the Street’s D-Wave Target
The new $27 is 22% below the $35 consensus target of the 17 analysts who cover D-Wave. The consensus target rose from $26 in October 2025 to $35 by October 13, 2026, after peaking near $39 in February:
Analysts haven’t followed the price down. The stock fell from $36.11 to $10.65 over the same year, and even the Street’s lowest target, $18.36, is well above it.
TIKR Tracks 17 Analysts on D-Wave Quantum. How Many Say “Buy”?
See the full breakdown of Buy, Hold, and Sell ratings on D-Wave Quantum, along with Wall Street’s revenue and earnings estimates, all in one place. More than 500,000 investors use TIKR to research stocks like this one. See D-Wave Quantum’s Analyst Ratings
Does B. Riley’s $27 Add Up?
Analysts expect losses through 2027, so the stock trades on sales. They expect revenue to grow from $24.6 million in 2025 to $42.5 million in 2026, $80.6 million in 2027 and $148 million in 2028:
To reach the $42.5 million analysts expect for 2026, D-Wave needs about $36.5 million in the second half, after $5.9 million in the first. Its revenue has come in below consensus in each of the last three quarters.
At the October 30 close, D-Wave traded at 61x forward sales, well under its three-year average of 152x:
That average includes 2025’s quantum rally, when the multiple peaked at 839x. On sales estimates for the next 12 months, B. Riley’s $27 works out to about 155x, a bit above the average.
Dilution is the other risk: D-Wave’s weighted diluted share count has tripled since 2022.
What D-Wave’s November 10 Report Needs to Show
B. Riley’s call looks too optimistic for now. To reach $27, the stock would need a multiple above its three-year average, on sales estimates the company has missed three quarters running.
The bull case has real backing, though. D-Wave reported first-half bookings of $35.5 million, up more than 1,120%, and $40.7 million of remaining performance obligations, so the orders behind the fourth quarter are on the books, whatever the lawsuit says about where they came from. The first check comes on Tuesday, November 10, when D-Wave reports its third quarter. Watch for any word that both systems will still ship by year-end. If they do, $27 starts to look a lot more reasonable.
So what is D-Wave Quantum stock actually worth?
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
