Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Trading Up 11.4% – Here’s What Happened

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares rose 11.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $18.06 and last traded at $17.91. 22,984,166 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 32,345,811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.07.

Rigetti Computing News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Rigetti Computing this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quantum stocks surged across the sector despite no major company-specific announcement, suggesting that momentum, speculative interest, and renewed enthusiasm for the quantum-computing theme were major drivers of RGTI’s move. Quantum Computing Stocks Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Rigetti’s second-quarter revenue rose 185.3% year over year to $5.14 million, helped by Novera hardware sales, slightly exceeding analyst expectations. The company also cited commercial system deliveries involving partners such as Nvidia and HPE. RGTI Q2 Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. Department of Commerce letter of intent could provide up to $100 million in quantum research-and-development support. Rigetti also reported approximately $541.3 million in liquidity, strengthening its ability to fund development and customer deployments. Rigetti Operating Structure
• Positive Sentiment: The company created a dedicated Systems Delivery organization to handle manufacturing, deployments, and customer support. David Rivas became COO, while Andrew Bestwick became CTO and will focus on chip and processor development. Management said the changes are intended to improve execution and advance the Cepheus-1-108Q roadmap. Rigetti Systems Delivery Organization
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed. Several firms maintain Buy or Outperform ratings with targets near $31 to $40, but the broader consensus is Hold, reflecting substantial uncertainty around commercialization and future growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the revenue increase, Rigetti’s net loss widened to $52.61 million from $39.65 million a year earlier. The stock trades at roughly 100 times sales, and customer concentration makes future system deliveries particularly important. RGTI Valuation and Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded RGTI from Hold to Strong Sell, adding pressure to the valuation debate.
• Negative Sentiment: The CFO, COO, and CTO each sold shares to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards. The sales represented small portions of their remaining holdings, but the absence of insider purchases contributes to cautious sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RGTI shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush started coverage on Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on Rigetti Computing from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rigetti Computing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of -19.90 and a beta of 1.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.73.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). Rigetti Computing had a negative return on equity of 17.50% and a negative net margin of 2,189.54%.The business had revenue of $5.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rigetti Computing

In other news, Director Ray O. Johnson sold 122,188 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.30, for a total transaction of $2,602,604.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 171,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,648,114.90. The trade was a 41.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Joseph Bestwick sold 5,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $97,346.71. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,036,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,417,194.01. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 725,149 shares of company stock valued at $17,345,425. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigetti Computing

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Rigetti Computing in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 403.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 454.3% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new position in shares of Rigetti Computing in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.38% of the company’s stock.

About Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti’s offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.