Shares in US quantum computing firms rose sharply on Thursday following a report in the Wall Street Journal that President Donald Trump’s administration is in discussions to acquire equity stakes in return for federal funding.
Stocks of IonQ and D-Wave Quantum advanced by 12% and 18% respectively, with Rigetti Computing and Quantum Computing surging 13% and 6.74%, following reports indicating the companies are negotiating the US government taking a shareholding as part of their funding arrangements
However, a US Department of Commerce official told Reuters that the department is “not currently negotiating with any of the companies”.
The Defiance Quantum ETF, which tracks entities whose services are tied to the development of quantum computing and machine learning technology, added 1.3% and is set to build on its 32% gain for the year to date.
The Trump administration has been accelerating its efforts to secure US supply chains for critical minerals and semiconductors by converting federal grants into equity stakes in private companies, a strategy designed to reduce reliance on China. The administration has previously secured, or discussed securing, holdings in several companies, including Lithium Americas, MP Materials, and Intel, as part of this shift towards direct ownership rather than traditional subsidies.
Quantum computers exploit quantum mechanics to solve problems that would require thousands of years for conventional computers. Despite the revolutionary potential, existing quantum machines currently dedicate a substantial amount of their processing power to error correction, meaning they are not, on net, faster than classical computers.
Regarding commercial milestones, Microsoft unveiled a new chip in February which it claimed showed quantum computing is “years, not decades” away, while IBM stated in June its plans to deliver a practical quantum computer by 2029.
Separately, stocks in IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave Quantum have experienced a volatile trading month, having climbed to record highs last week before descending into a string of daily declines.
Last week, JPMorgan Chase announced that it would invest in the quantum computing sector, as part of a wider $1.5 trillion, decade-long initiative aimed at boosting growth in key sectors.
Wall Street edged higher on Thursday, as underwhelming earnings from Tesla and IBM, as well as simmering US-China trade tensions, kept risk appetite on a tight leash.
At 11:31 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.69 points, or 0.15%, to 46,661.10, the S&P 500 gained 25.17 points, or 0.38%, to 6,724.57 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 152.12 points, or 0.67%, to 22,892.52.
