Rigetti Computing tripled its revenue in the first quarter of 2026, but the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond the headline growth rate. The company brought in $4.4 million in the first three months of the year, up from $1.5 million in the same period of 2025, according to a report by Yahoo Finance. The stock is still down 25% this year.
The surge looks dramatic in percentage terms, but the underlying economics of quantum computing remain a challenge. Rigetti's selling, general, and administrative expenses alone totaled $7.4 million in the quarter, already exceeding total revenue. Research and development costs came in at $20 million, pushing the company's operating loss to just under $26 million.
Rigetti did post a net profit of $33 million for the quarter, but that figure would have been a loss without a roughly $54 million revaluation of its derivative warrant liabilities. That kind of accounting adjustment does not reflect cash coming in from customers or growth in demand.
The company's history adds another layer of caution. In 2025, Rigetti's full-year revenue declined by around 34%. The first-quarter surge may reflect a single contract or timing of payments rather than a durable shift in demand. Quantum computing revenue can be lumpy, and consistent customer demand has not yet materialized across the industry.
The broader market for quantum computing remains small. The entire global quantum computing market was worth an estimated $1.4 billion in 2024, according to analysts at Grand View Research. Those analysts project the market will reach only about $4.2 billion by the end of the decade, a growth rate that suggests the industry is still years away from the scale needed to support companies like Rigetti at their current valuations.
Rigetti is working to become a meaningful player in a sector that many investors see as a long-term complement to artificial intelligence, given the demand for faster and more efficient computing. The case for the company rests on what quantum hardware could eventually do, not on what it is generating today. For investors considering the stock, the tripled revenue is real, but the gap between sales and expenses remains wide enough to warrant caution before reading the quarterly result as a turning point.
