Jensen Huang crashed shares of quantum computer manufacturers

Quantum computing stocks fell after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said market expectations for quantum computing were too high. In his opinion, it could be 15–30 years before a useful quantum computer is created. Not all experts share the point of view of the head of Nvidia.

Image source: NVIDIA

«If you said [we were] 15 years away from useful quantum computers, that would probably be an understatement. If you said 30 years, you would probably exaggerate. But if you chose 20 years, I think many of us would believe it,” Huang said during a conversation with reporters when asked about the prospects for further growth of quantum computing technologies.

Against this background, shares of companies related to quantum computing collapsed. Thus, Rigetti Computing securities fell in price by 40%, IonQ shares lost 37% in price, and D-Wave Quantum lost more than 30%. Quantum Computing, which recently announced a public offering to raise $100 million, fell 37%.

«Because valuations have become somewhat elevated, we did not see today’s correction. The broad consensus has long been that mass adoption of quantum computing is still years away, so today’s negative news has no basis in reality,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments.

D-Wave Quantum CEO Alan Baratz is confident that Jensen Huang is wrong in his assessment of the prospects for the quantum computing market. “The reason he’s wrong is because we at D-Wave are already in business today. Not in 30 years, not in 20 years, not in 15 years, but right now, today,” Baratz said during a conversation with CNBC reporters. He also added that companies including Mastercard and Japan’s NTT Docomo are “today using our quantum computers in manufacturing to improve their business operations.” At the same time, D-Wave continues to receive minimal revenue. The company’s sales in the latest quarter fell 27% to $1.9 million from the same period a year earlier.

At the end of 2024, investor interest in quantum computing grew, fueled by the announcement of Google’s Willow quantum processor. Against this background, the price of shares of many companies operating in this segment jumped. For example, Rigetti and D-Wave securities rose in price by a total of 1449% and 854%, respectively.