Mackenzie Tatananni

Quantum-computing stocks climbed in premarket trading Wednesday after Microsoft declared 2025 "the year to become quantum-ready," and unveiled a corporate-training program.

Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum, the second- and fourth-biggest gainers in the Russell 3000 Index on Tuesday, were up 11% and 3.4%, respectively, in Wednesday premarket trading. Peers Quantum Computing and IonQ were also rising 11% and 1.8%, respectively, on Wednesday.

The gains followed Microsoft's announcement of its Quantum Ready program, a slate of workshops and industry-specific forums to help business leaders get acquainted with the technology.

In a Jan. 14 blog post, the company said it anticipated the pace of quantum research and development to accelerate over the next 12 months.

"We are at the advent of the reliable quantum-computing era," Microsoft wrote in the post. "And we are right on the cusp of seeing quantum computers solve meaningful problems and capture new business value."

Quantum stocks, at last, appear to be catching their breath. Shares slid last week after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued it would take decades for quantum computers to be "very useful" or "practical."

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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January 15, 2025 08:07 ET (13:07 GMT)

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