D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) Trading Up 6.5% After Analyst Upgrade

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) was up 6.5% during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $18.02 and last traded at $17.81. Approximately 16,313,089 shares traded 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.

QBTS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Northland Securities started coverage on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of D-Wave Quantum from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sophie C. Ames sold 23,025 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total transaction of $437,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 596,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,327,320.94. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John M. Markovich sold 328,752 shares of D-Wave Quantum stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $9,106,430.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,442,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,966,114. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,360,772 shares of company stock worth $35,737,111. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On D-Wave Quantum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QBTS. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,205,427 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Marex Group plc raised its position in D-Wave Quantum by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,592,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in D-Wave Quantum by 41.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,648,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941,762 shares in the last quarter. 42.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

D-Wave Quantum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 21.41 and a quick ratio of 21.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 2.11.

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

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.