Mackenzie Tatananni
Shares of D-Wave Quantum, Quantum Computing, and peer stocks slipped in early Monday trading after President Donald Trump's tariffs kicked in, igniting fears of a global trade war.
Shares of D-Wave and Quantum Computing were each down 9%, while shares of IonQ fell 5.4%. Rigetti Computing stock saw the biggest decline, slipping 9.4%.
Quantum stocks slid amid a broad selloff triggered by Trump's tariff announcement. On Saturday, the president followed through with plans to impose taxes on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, with America's neighbors swiftly pledging to retaliate.
China has yet to unveil retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. However, the country's ministry of commerce said the Chinese government would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization, and take steps to "safeguard its own rights and interests."
Smaller quantum-computing companies including D-Wave aren't profitable, and they face grueling competition from industry leaders such as International Business Machines, Alphabet unit Google, and Microsoft.
Their businesses may also be complicated by an emerging global trade war. D-Wave's customers include Nippon Telegraph & Telephone's NTT Docomo unit, and Canadian supermarket chain Pattison Food Group. IonQ is a member of trade group Quantum Industry Canada.
As fear settled into the market Monday, all three major indexes opened in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw the steepest decline, falling 2.4%.
Also on Monday, D-Wave launched its "Quantum Realized" brand campaign. CEO Alan Baratz said in a press release that D-Wave would be "the first company capable of delivering on the value of quantum computing today," based on a list of criteria including proven customer successes.
While the news wasn't doing much to lift D-Wave's shares, Baratz's optimism added another layer to the debate over the timeline for commercially viable quantum computing.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang triggered a selloff in quantum-computing stocks last month with the assertion that it could take decades for the advent of "very useful" quantum systems.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
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February 03, 2025 10:24 ET (15:24 GMT)
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