US takes stakes in D-Wave (QBTS), Rigetti (RGTI) and Quantinuum (QNT) at a 15% discount to Friday's close

By Dennis Singleton · Markets Writer · September 8, 2026, 7:02 PM ET

Key points

Commerce gets shares in three quantum companies for up to $300 million
Prices work out to about 15% below Friday's close
No vote on most matters, no sale to competitors
Stakes are 2.3%, 1.9% and 0.9% of each company

The US government is taking stakes in D-Wave (QBTS), Rigetti (RGTI) and Quantinuum (QNT) in exchange for research funding worth up to $300 million. Each company signed an award agreement for up to $100 million with the Commerce Department under the CHIPS and Science Act. The shares are being issued at prices about 15% below their September 4 closing levels.

The agreements were signed September 4 and disclosed Tuesday in SEC filings from D-Wave, Rigetti and Quantinuum. Commerce faces restrictions on voting the shares on most matters and selling them to competitors.

All three stocks rose Tuesday, the first session after the Labor Day holiday. D-Wave gained 6.7%, Rigetti 4.1% and Quantinuum 1.7%.

What the government gets

Company	Shares to Commerce	Price per share	Stake	Value at Tuesday's close
D-Wave (QBTS)	7,095,721	$14.093	1.9%	$125.5 million
Rigetti (RGTI)	7,739,938	$12.92	2.3%	$122.5 million
Quantinuum (QNT)	2,369,528	$42.20	0.9%	$119.6 million

Shares and prices from each company's 8-K. Stake and value by our arithmetic. Stake is the department's ownership after the issuance, the new shares divided by each company's total shares outstanding plus the new shares, using shares outstanding as reported by Robinhood market data; value uses Tuesday's closing prices from the same source. Quantinuum's per-share price is derived from $100 million divided by the share count.

D-Wave's filing sets the issue price at 15% below the lowest closing price on three dates: when Commerce first sent a draft letter of intent, when that letter was signed, and when the award was made. September 4 had the lowest close at $16.58, giving Commerce a price of $14.093 per share.

Quantinuum uses the lower of its IPO price discounted by 20% or its award-date close discounted by 15%. Its about $42.20 price matches the September 4 close of $49.65 less 15%. Rigetti's filing gives an implied price of $12.92, which also matches a 15% discount to its Friday close, by our arithmetic. At Tuesday's closing prices, the three stakes were worth about $367.6 million against up to $300 million in awards.

Those are market values, not realized proceeds. Commerce can sell shares only in proportion to the funding each company has actually received. D-Wave gets $53.6 million initially, with the remainder spread across three milestones. Rigetti's tranches are $43.9 million, $29.9 million and $26.2 million. Quantinuum's are $56 million, $32 million and $12 million. If Commerce cancels an award early, the company can repurchase the shares corresponding to undisbursed funding for a total of $1.

What the money funds

D-Wave said it will use the award to develop a 100,000-qubit annealing system and a 10,000-qubit gate-model system capable of 100 logical qubits. Rigetti listed three projects: shrinking readout electronics into a single package, expanding cryogenic capacity with a new cryostat design, and building the fabrication capability for chips with more connections between qubits. Quantinuum will put the money into research and US manufacturing of the ion traps that hold the charged atoms its computers run on, with GlobalFoundries (GFS) fabricating them on 300mm wafers and Monarch Quantum supplying the lasers. Rajeeb Hazra, Quantinuum's president and chief executive, called the award "a validation of Quantinuum's leadership in trapped-ion quantum computing."

The agreements are among the first signed under a program the department announced on May 21, when it issued letters of intent worth $2.013 billion to nine quantum companies, which we looked at in June. GlobalFoundries signed its own $375 million agreement on Tuesday, with a stake of about 1% going to the department. The template is the one the government used with Intel (INTC), where it paid $20.47 a share for a stake in exchange for CHIPS money.

D-Wave closed at $17.69 on Tuesday, Rigetti at $15.83 and Quantinuum at $50.47, according to Robinhood market data. IBM's proposed $1 billion award, the largest in the May program, was not among Tuesday's announcements.

Frequently asked questions

How big a stake does the US government get in D-Wave, Rigetti and Quantinuum?

Under agreements signed September 4, 2026 and disclosed September 8, the Commerce Department receives 7,095,721 D-Wave shares, 7,739,938 Rigetti shares and 2,369,528 Quantinuum Class A shares, in exchange for CHIPS Act research awards of up to $100 million to each company. By our arithmetic those are about 1.9%, 2.3% and 0.9% of each company after the issuance, using total shares outstanding plus the new shares. The shares carry no vote on most matters and cannot be sold to a competitor.

What price is the government paying for the quantum company shares?

The prices work out to about 15% below each company's September 4 close, though the three agreements state the formula differently. D-Wave's filing sets the price at the lowest close across three reference dates, discounted 15%, which produced $14.093. Rigetti's implied price of $12.92 and Quantinuum's derived price of $42.20 both equal their September 4 closes less 15% by our arithmetic. At Tuesday's closes the three stakes were worth about $367.6 million against up to $300 million in awards. Those are market values, not realized proceeds, and sales are restricted by the agreements.

Does the government get the money's worth up front?

No. Each award is paid in tranches tied to milestones. D-Wave receives $53.6 million initially, Rigetti $43.9 million and Quantinuum $56 million, with the rest released as projects hit targets. The department can sell shares only in proportion to funds actually drawn, and if an award is cancelled early the company can buy back the shares tied to undelivered money for a total of $1.

What will D-Wave, Rigetti and Quantinuum do with the CHIPS money?

D-Wave plans a 100,000-qubit annealing system and a 10,000-qubit gate-model system capable of 100 logical qubits. Rigetti will miniaturize readout electronics, build a new cryostat architecture and develop fabrication for high-connectivity chips. Quantinuum will fund research and US manufacturing of ion traps, with GlobalFoundries fabricating them on 300mm wafers and Monarch Quantum supplying lasers and optics.