SEALSQ Corp's stock surged 21.33% in Thursday's intraday trading session, riding a wave of positive sentiment for quantum computing companies. The rally came amid a broader decline in tech stocks like Nvidia and AMD due to potential new restrictions on AI chip exports.
The quantum computing sector saw a sharp uptick, with shares of Rigetti Computing, IonQ Inc., and Quantum Computing Inc. rising around 9%, while D-Wave Quantum Inc. jumped over 7%. This followed comments from D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz, who countered Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's skepticism about the current usefulness of quantum applications.
Baratz argued that D-Wave's quantum computing services are being utilized by major companies like Mastercard today, not years in the future as Huang suggested. The surge in quantum computing stocks indicates investors see growing potential and adoption for the technology, fueling the rally in SEALSQ Corp and its peers.