Quantum computing has become one of the most closely watched corners of the stock market, and a wave of new analyst commentary suggests the sector's biggest moves may still be ahead — even if nobody agrees on which companies will capture them.
TipRanks reports that analysts see two quantum computing stocks with triple-digit upside in 2026, meaning they expect the share prices to more than double. That kind of forecast is rare outside of speculative sectors, and it captures how much of quantum's value today rests on expectations rather than earnings.
Rigetti Computing has drawn particular attention. According to Yahoo Finance, the company recently launched a 108-qubit processor and laid out plans to reach "quantum advantage" — the point at which a quantum machine outperforms conventional computers on a useful task — within three years. Yahoo Finance's analysis suggests the stock could be roughly 12% undervalued, while framing the company's superconducting approach as facing a valuation test.
Not everyone thinks the pure plays are the smart bet. The Motley Fool argues investors should "forget" IonQ, Rigetti and D-Wave Quantum in favor of a trillion-dollar artificial intelligence megacap that is building the bridge between quantum systems and classical supercomputers — infrastructure that pays off regardless of which quantum hardware approach wins. A separate Motley Fool piece pits IonQ against Rigetti in what it calls a $2.7 trillion race, and concludes the answer to who's winning depends entirely on how you define winning.
Why it matters: quantum computing is still years from commercial payoff, yet billions in investor money is already being allocated on the basis of forecasts — so the gap between the hype and the hardware is where ordinary investors stand to gain or lose the most.