This Billionaire Was Right on D-Wave Quantum, but Look at the Wild Ride
Israel Englander’s Millennium Management bought roughly 2.27 million shares of D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) in late 2024 for approximately $16.4 million, according to a 24/7 Wall St. article published May 28, 2025. One year later, the verdict is clear: the…
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Israel Englander’s Millennium Management bought roughly 2.27 million shares of D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) in late 2024 for approximately $16.4 million, according to a 24/7 Wall St. article published May 28, 2025. One year later, the verdict is clear: the billionaire was right on the thesis, but the stock chart since then resembles a rollercoaster missing a few safety bars.
D-Wave Quantum stock has been one of the more rewarding (and punishing) ways to play the quantum theme. From the original article’s publication to May 14, 2026, shares rose from $17.00 to $22.13, a gain of 30.2%. Stretch the window slightly and the math gets more dramatic: the trailing 12 months show a 99.7% return. Englander’s reported entry price is well below current levels, so his firm’s late-2024 buy looks prescient.
The Wild Ride
The stock’s path was anything but linear. The 52-week range stretches from $11.32 to $46.75, an enormous trading band for a name with an $8.2 billion market cap. The stock’s beta is 2.69, more than double the broader market’s volatility. Year-to-date 2026 returns are negative 15.4% even after a 30.4% surge over the past 30 days, and on May 12, 2026, the stock dropped 9.59% in a single session to $20.88. Reddit sentiment data captured the whiplash: WallStreetBets activity spiked to 481 upvotes in a single time window on October 24, 2025, with sentiment scores swinging from 71 (very bullish) to 1 (very bearish) within 48 hours.
What Backstops the Thesis
The fundamentals have moved in D-Wave’s favor since Englander’s reported buy. Full-year 2025 revenue reached $24.59 million, up 179% year over year, and Q1 2026 bookings hit $33.40 million, up nearly 2,000% year over year, anchored by a $20 million Florida Atlantic University system deal and a $10 million Fortune 100 QCaaS agreement. CEO Alan Baratz framed the strategic position bluntly: “As the only quantum computing company pursuing both annealing and gate-model quantum computing systems, we believe that D-Wave is uniquely positioned to participate in the full addressable quantum computing market.” The January 2026 acquisition of Quantum Circuits accelerated the gate-model roadmap, and the company is set to host its first-ever Investor Day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 1, 2026.
The Forward Setup
Sell-side coverage remains constructive. The $35.17 Wall Street consensus price target stands against a mix of one Strong Buy, 12 Buy, two Hold, and no Sell ratings (roughly 87% bullish). The 247 Factor target is $44.35, implying 100.4% upside, though the model carries medium confidence (0.5) because of the negative EPS. Q1 2026 net loss came in at $18.36 million, or $0.05 per share, and operating cash burn ran at negative $44.96 million for the quarter. The $588.4 million cash position provides runway, but this remains a speculative growth name where quarterly revenue is notably lumpy.
The Take
The lesson from this trade is about position sizing when beta runs at 2x. A retiree who bought at the time of the original article and held is comfortably ahead. Anyone who chased the $46+ highs earlier in 2026 is underwater. Following smart money works when the thesis is correct and the entry is patient. Englander’s call on D-Wave checks the first box, but the wild ride is a reminder that timing, not just conviction, determines whether retail investors actually capture the win.
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Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.
