Rigetti Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI) Earnings Live: What You Need to Follow

RGTI is still down 10.25% after earnings.

Management reiterated confidence in achieving 36-qubit systems by mid-2025 and >100 qubits by year-end using chiplet architecture, with ongoing focus on improving gate speed and fidelity; commercial sales remain limited as the industry is still in R&D phase, with significant revenue growth expected only after achieving quantum advantage in 3–5 years.

What likely spooked investors: revenue of just $1.5 million, well below the Street’s $2.6 million estimate and nearly 50% lower year-over-year. While Rigetti cited milestone-driven contracts as the reason for “lumpiness” in its revenue recognition, this marks the second straight quarter where execution lagged market forecasts.

The company did post $42.6 million in net income, but that figure included $62.1 million in non-cash gains from derivative warrant revaluation—not operating upside.

On the strategic side, Rigetti reaffirmed its position as a top U.S. player in superconducting quantum computing, announcing new DARPA, AFOSR, and UK contracts alongside a demonstrated quantum-classical hybrid optimization result using its 84-qubit Ankaa-3 processor.

Still, tonight’s after-hours move suggests investors were looking for more immediate evidence of commercial revenue traction.

Why is Rigetti immediately down? The biggest reason is that revenues of $1.472 million are below expectations of around $2.5 million.

While these numbers are small, it is a sizable miss in percentage terms. Shares are now down 8% as of 4:15 p.m. ET.

Rigetti Computing earnings are out

• Revenue of $1.5 million
• Operating expenses of $22.1 million
• Net income of $42.6 million thanks to non-cash gains from the change of fair value of derivative warrants and earn-out liabilities.

The stock is currently down 7% after-hours. We will continue updating this live blog.

In one of the most telling strategic admissions from a recent call, CEO Subodh Kulkarni stated that Rigetti is intentionally shifting resources away from long-term R&D and toward near-term commercialization. This is a subtle but significant change from past positioning, when the company focused on being a science-first innovator.

“We are prioritizing short-term commercial traction, even if that comes at the expense of some longer-term, deep-tech progress.”

This suggests that Rigetti is now actively targeting a few near-term, revenue-generating wins—such as Novera QPU deployments or cloud access deals—to prove business viability. For investors worried about dilution or runway exhaustion, this shift indicates management is listening.

This also sets a clear tone heading into earnings: the company will likely emphasize contracts, backlog growth, or delivery timing over bleeding-edge technical updates. Any Q1 commentary around new partner wins or monetization of Ankaa-3 access would reinforce this commercial turn.

Guidance may not include hard revenue figures, but commentary on the 36-qubit chip launch timing, Ankaa-3 fidelity stability, and commercial QPU sales is crucial. If management confirms a second Novera shipment or names a non-government customer, that’s material. Investors will also want confirmation that the Quanta PIPE remains on track with no red flags.

1. Burn Rate Anchored — 3–4 Year Runway with No Debt

Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni told investors the company is running $60M/year in OpEx, with an EBITDA loss of ~$12M per quarter. But more notably:

“We have roughly $225 million of cash, no debt, so we have 3, 4 years at least of runway… We hope our existing cash is good enough to take us to breakeven.”

This directly counters the usual capital raise fear baked into microcap hardware names. And it shows that Rigetti is pacing its roadmap to its liquidity—a huge strategic distinction vs. over-ambitious peers.

2. Ankaa-3 Performance Real: 99.5% fSim, AI-Calibrated

Ankaa-3 isn’t vapor. In fact, it’s already integrated with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Braket, and now includes automated calibration powered by AI tools from Quantum Elements and Qruise, coordinated with NVIDIA and Israel’s Quantum Machines.

“We achieved major 2-qubit gate fidelity milestones… 99.0% median iSWAP, 99.5% fSim… AI tools remotely calibrated a Rigetti QPU integrated with Quantum Machines and NVIDIA DGX Quantum.” 

This is a top-tier validation of technical maturity and ecosystem relevance—not just performance.

3. New Sales Momentum in Asia and Academia

Rigetti’s commercial QPU program is seeing uptake, including a sale to Horizon Quantum in Singapore, and a prior one to Montana State University. These are small deals—but they matter. Why?

“We are witnessing the emergence of a vibrant on-premises quantum market. Horizon Quantum’s testbed in Singapore will be powered by our QPU.”

This opens a new revenue vector that’s independent of U.S. federal budgets—and shows the Novera Partner Program may be gaining traction globally.

Rigetti’s earnings call tonight is less about Q1 numbers—Wall Street expects around $4 million in revenue and a –$0.13 EPS loss—and more about whether the company’s roadmap and funding strategy are aligned. The standout technical achievement from Q1 was Ankaa-3, an 84-qubit system that hit internal targets for two-qubit fidelity and gate speed. That matters. But it’s only one half of the story.

The other half is capital. Rigetti ended 2024 with $106 million in cash—enough for four to five quarters of operations. The company is counting on a $35 million PIPE from Quanta Computer, plus a five-year, $250 million joint investment roadmap. But that deal is still pending regulatory approval. If it falls through or is delayed beyond 2025, Rigetti may face a return to fundraising.

What investors need to hear tonight:
• A timeline for the 36-qubit tiled system
• Updates on commercial QPU shipments (beyond pilots)
• Progress on DARPA/DoE renewals and total backlog
• Status and contingency plan around the Quanta deal

This is a pivotal quarter for showing that Rigetti’s technical breakthroughs can translate into a scalable, durable business model.