Following the fourth-quarter print, MKM Roth said it is encouraged by D-Wave’s growing backlog and the opportunity to diversify into hardware sales beyond core QCaaS quantum cloud service.
D-Wave Quantum, Inc. (QBTS) stock has bucked the broader market downturn seen this week thanks to two key catalysts. The stock could end the week with a flourish after analysts at Roth MKM upped their price target for the stock.
On Wednesday, following a trading halt in the morning, the Palo Alto, California-based company said a paper published in the Science journal delved into a breakthrough feat achieved by its Advantage2 prototype annealing quantum computer.
The peer-reviewed paper said D-Wave’s quantum computer outperformed one of the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers in solving complex magnetic materials simulation problems related to materials discovery.
The stock traded between $5.34 and $6.39 on Wednesday before settling at $5.82, a gain of over 8%.
D-Wave stock added to its gains on Thursday after the company issued first-quarter revenue guidance that exceeded the Finchat-compiled consensus by at least 292%.
The company clarified that a significant portion of it would be due to the sale of an Advantage annealing quantum computer.
The stock rose nearly 5% in Friday’s premarket trading. The triggers may have been the ongoing momentum and an upward price target adjustment by Roth MKM analyst Suji Desilva.
TheFly reported that the analyst upped the price target to $10 from $7, citing the quarterly results and the guidance. The analyst said he was encouraged by D-Wave’s growing backlog and the opportunity to diversify into hardware sales beyond core QCaaS quantum cloud service.
The updated price target implies an upside potential of about 45% from the current levels. The firm has a 'Buy' rating on the stock.
On Stocktwits, sentiment toward D-Wave stock improved to ‘extremely bullish’ (83/100) from the ‘bullish’ mood seen a day ago. The message volume stayed ‘extremely high.’
A bullish watcher said a high-teens move is possible on Friday on potential analyst upgrades.
The D-Wave stream had 1,675 messages over the past 24 hours, surging by 406%. Over the past year, the watcher count for the stock has grown by 531%.
The stock was among the top five trending tickers on Stocktwits early Friday and among the top 10 most active ones.
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