Rigetti Computing has become one of the foremost pure-play quantum computing companies. Its stock was falling in after-hours trading after missing expectations for quarterly revenue.

For the third quarter, the Berkeley, Calif.-based developer of superconducting quantum integrated circuits for quantum computers reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss of 3 cents a share on revenue of $1.9 million.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected Rigetti to report a loss of five cents a share on sales of $2.2 million.

Shares were down 2% on Monday afternoon, after closing down 2% to $33.08 in regular trading. Rigetti's stock is up 117% so far this year, and up 2,076% over the past 12 months.

For the full year, Rigetti is expected to report a loss of 29 cents a share on sales of $8.1 million. That compares with a loss of 36 cents a share on revenue of $10.8 million in 2024.

"We saw strong momentum with both the demand for our on-premises quantum computers and the development of collaborations to advance our own R&D and the quantum ecosystem more broadly," CEO Subodh Kulkarni said.

"We are equally excited to support Nvidia NVQLink, Nvidia's new open platform for AI supercomputer-quantum integration, which is a promising resource to accelerate hybrid computation development as we work towards quantum advantage," Kulkarni said.

Companies in the quantum computing sector have sought to cut back on losses as they make progress toward profitability. Rigetti's operating losses are widening, however. Its third-quarter operating loss was $20.5 million, versus a $19.9 million operating loss in the second quarter, and a $17.3 million loss in the third quarter of 2024.

Rigetti's latest results come amid a raft of earnings from competitors, namely IONQ Inc. and D-Wave Quantum, both of which reported last week. While D-Wave's results failed to impress investors, as evidenced by the market reaction, IonQ stock gained on the back of earnings, as revenue of $39.9 million more than tripled from the same period last year.

The stocks rarely trade together. Sometimes, the moves can be inexplicable. In D-Wave's case, it appeared to be a matter of investors balancing its explosive gains over the past year with a lack of meaningful progress toward profitability or broader commercialization.

D-Wave stock has seen the largest gains this year, up 250%. Rigetti and IonQ have risen 117% and 33%, respectively.

Rigetti sets itself apart from its pure-play competitors, many of whom are striving to commercialize their technology at all costs, with a focus on research and development. The company generates a sizable portion of its revenue from government contracts.

Earlier this year, Rigetti landed a $5.8 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory to explore quantum networking, or the transmission of information between physically distant quantum computers.

While Rigetti is making money, the company has yet to turn an annual profit, and its reliance on government contracts might be seen as a weak point. B. Riley Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy last week, arguing that possible U.S. government funding delays due to the record shutdown "lend sales risk."

Perhaps the most encouraging sign of progress was Rigetti's announcement at the end of September that it had secured two purchase orders for a combined $5.7 million for two 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems. Delivery for both systems, which allow customers to increase the system qubit count for more complex computations and research, is expected in the first half of 2026. The news caused shares to rally for days straight.

While Rigetti declined to provide details about the buyers' identities, they were implied to be nongovernment customers. One system is being purchased by an Asian technology manufacturing company, while the other is going to a California-based applied physics and artificial intelligence startup, Rigetti said.

Kulkarni remarked at the time that he was "excited to see the increased demand for on-premises quantum computing systems as the industry matures."

The company has operated quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 and began selling on-premises machines four years later. Rigetti's 9-qubit Novera quantum processing unit was introduced in 2023 to support a broader community of researchers.

Rigetti said it remains on track to deliver "our 100+ qubit chiplet-based quantum system with an anticipated 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity by the end of 2025."

Rigetti said it expects to deploy a 150+ qubit system by or around the end of 2026 with an anticipated 99.7% median two-qubit gate fidelity, and a 1,000+ qubit system by or around the end of 2027 with an anticipated 99.8% median two-qubit gate fidelity.