D-Wave Quantum Just Announced an Expanded Deal. Should You Buy the Stock Now?
Key Points
D-Wave's technology cut processing time for an AT&T network optimization workload from one hour to 15 seconds.
The quantum computing company's stock has declined more than 25% this year as of July 27.
Shares of D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) jumped Monday morning on the announcement that AT&T (NYSE: T) is expanding its use of the company's quantum computing technology across its network operations. This is excellent news in a rough year for D-Wave's stock, which is down more than 26% in 2026.
So should investors buy D-Wave Quantum's stock now?
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This new agreement with AT&T expands on a pilot program that demonstrated D-Wave's annealing quantum computing cut processing time for a network optimization workload by 240x, from approximately one hour to 15 seconds.
Ultimately, this result with AT&T could catalyze D-Wave as other companies take notice of the real-world results from the pilot program. The quantum computing industry as a whole could use a boost, having largely lost investor enthusiasm this year after a 2025 run-up.
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D-Wave's stock is still highly speculative and volatile. The commercial applicability of quantum commuting is largely unknown and untested. This nod of credibility from AT&T should help. Investors in D-Wave need to proceed with patience and caution, however, as the company has relatively little revenue compared to its losses.
On the positive side, D-Wave has more than $42 million in remaining performance obligations (RPO), a 563% year-over-year increase. The AT&T deal, paired with this jump in RPOs, could signal real traction for D-Wave's technology.
With the stock down significantly in 2026, risk-tolerant long-term investors willing to tolerate continued volatility may see the AT&T deal as the cue to climb aboard.
Catie Hogan has positions in AT&T. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.