By Adam Clark

Quantum-computing stocks were soaring early on Thursday amid excitement over potential federal funding for the sector in exchange for the U.S. government taking equity stakes in the companies.

IonQ, Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum are all in talks about granting shares to the Commerce Department in exchange for minimum funding awards from Washington of $10 million each, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Commerce Department didn't immediately respond to a Barron's request for comment early on Thursday.

D-Wave Quantum was rising 15% in the premarket, while IonQ was up 14% and Rigetti Computing was rising 11%.

Quantum Computing was gaining 13%. It is also considering a similar arrangement, according to the Journal.

Quantum potentially represents a major advance in computing, Quantum computers have "qubits" which can have multiple states, and they can process data much faster than normal binary-based computers as a result. However, it also faces limitations, as qubits are sensitive to disturbances in the environment, which can result in unacceptably high error rates.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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October 23, 2025 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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