D wave

D-Wave backlog up 13× while operating cash outflow doubles as gate‑based development costs rise

On November 10, 2026, D-Wave Quantum reported Q3 2026 revenue of $4.5 million, up 21% year over year. Order intake for January–September 2026 totaled $37.4 million, and remaining performance obligations as of the end of September expanded to $38.3 million. Net loss was $48.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA調整後EBITDA / Adjusted EBITDAA profitability measure that starts with EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and further excludes or adjusts items specified by the company, such as one-time expenses and stock-based compensation.QI NoteThere is no standardized rule for what adjustments are made, so direct comparisons between companies can be difficult. Check which items were excluded and how large the difference is from GAAP profit. loss was $37.7 million.

✍️ Quantum Index Analysis
This explains the technical and business significance behind the announcement and the evaluation points that are not obvious from the numbers or headlines alone. Read our analysis ↓

Summary of the announcement

Order intake for Q3 was $1.9 million, down 19% year over year, while the January–September cumulative intake rose 611% year over year to $37.4 million. Remaining performance obligations (RPO) increased from $0.29 million a year earlier to $38.3 million; D‑Wave expects to recognize about 59% of this amount as revenue within 12 months and about 71% within 24 months. GAAP gross profit was $2.4 million, with a gross margin of 52.9%. A higher share of professional services revenue and increased stock‑based compensation drove an 18.5 percentage‑point decline in gross margin versus the prior year period. GAAP operating expenses rose 84% to $55.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA loss widened 83% to $37.7 million. Cash and marketable securities at the end of September totaled $503.4 million. On the technology and business front, D‑Wave signed a formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million in funding. Access to these funds is contingent on meeting specified conditions and milestones, and the support is intended to back development of a 100,000‑qubitQubit / Quantum Bit / QubitThe basic unit of information in a quantum computer. It can represent not only 0 or 1 but also a quantum state that is a superposition of them.QI NoteHaving more qubits does not necessarily mean higher performance. Error rates, connectivity, coherence time, and the number of logical qubits are also important. annealing system and a 10,000‑qubit gate‑based system that aims for 100 logical qubitsLogical Qubit / Logical QubitA unit of information treated as a single qubit protected from errors by using multiple physical qubits and quantum error correction.QI NoteSimply having “created a logical qubit” does not necessarily mean fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) has been achieved. One should verify logical error rates, operational/gate performance, and scalability. capable of over one million operations. In addition, NTT DOCOMO deployed its second production application using D‑Wave’s hybrid quantum technology. In a representative example covering 333 base stations, the optimization ran in about five minutes and reduced the daily peak of location update signals by up to 65.3% and paging signals by 7.0%. D‑Wave also delivered an Advantage2 system with over 4,400 qubits to Italy and launched a beta program for a gate‑based quantum computing simulatorQuantum Simulator / Quantum Simulator / Quantum Computing SimulatorSoftware or computing environments that simulate the computations of a quantum computer or the behavior of quantum systems on classical computers.QI NoteUnlike physical quantum processors, the presence or absence of noise and the number of qubits that can be reproduced vary depending on the method. For demonstrated results, verify the environment used..

Key points

  • Q3 revenue was $4.5 million, up 21% year over year, while GAAP gross margin fell 18.5 percentage points to 52.9%.
  • Q3 order intake was down 19% to $1.9 million, but January–September cumulative intake rose 611% to $37.4 million.
  • RPO at the end of September grew 1,221% year over year to $38.3 million, with about 59% expected to be recognized within 12 months.
  • Net loss was $48.2 million and adjusted EBITDA loss was $37.7 million; operating expenses increased 84% year over year.
  • Alongside U.S. government funding for next‑generation systems, D‑Wave advanced production use at NTT DOCOMO, delivered Advantage2 hardware to Italy, and began beta access to a gate‑based simulator.

Technical and business implications

The rise in cumulative orders and RPO indicates an expanding backlog受注残 / Backlog / Order BacklogThe monetary value or quantity of contracts/orders that have already been received from customers but for which delivery or revenue recognition has not yet been completed.QI NoteIt can be an indication of future sales, but not all of it will necessarily convert into revenue. One should also check contract terms, delivery schedules, the possibility of cancellations, and the time until revenue is recognized. that should convert to future revenue. However, single‑quarter order intake fell, and gross margin has declined due to a larger professional services mix and higher stock‑based compensation; operating expenses tied to product development and go‑to‑market efforts have also continued to rise. On the technical front, D‑Wave’s approach to advancing production use of annealing systems while concurrently pursuing gate‑based systems and error correction is becoming concrete. The up to $100 million in U.S. government funding could support next‑generation system development, but receipt is conditional and the announcement did not specify completion or commercialization timelines for the target systems.

What to watch next

In the next earnings report, key questions will be whether the $38.3 million RPO converts to revenue as expected and whether quarterly order intake rebounds. Also important will be the ongoing impact of a services‑heavy revenue mix on gross margin and the trajectory of losses as development spending increases. On the technology side, investors should track milestone achievement and actual disbursements under the U.S. Department of Commerce agreement, and concrete progress on the 100,000‑qubit annealing system and the gate‑based system targeting 100 logical qubits.

✍️ Quantum Index Analysis

This quarter’s results show that while D‑Wave’s commercialization is progressing, expansion into gate‑based quantum computers is rapidly increasing its financial burden. The large increase in backlog受注残 / Backlog / Order BacklogThe monetary value or quantity of contracts/orders that have already been received from customers but for which delivery or revenue recognition has not yet been completed.QI NoteIt can be an indication of future sales, but not all of it will necessarily convert into revenue. One should also check contract terms, delivery schedules, the possibility of cancellations, and the time until revenue is recognized. is positive, but current revenue growth does not yet keep pace with R&D and expansion costs.

Order intake for January–September 2026 reached $37.4 million, a 611% increase year over year. However, about $20.0 million of that total was for an Advantage2 system sold to Florida Atlantic University (FAU), representing roughly 53% of the total. While securing a large deal is notable, the surge in order value should not be interpreted as sustained demand growth by itself. In fact, Q3 standalone order intake fell 19% year over year. RPO expanded to $38.3 million, and approximately 59% of that is expected to be recognized as revenue within the next 12 months.

Revenue in Q3 was up 21% year over year, but the January–September cumulative revenue declined from $21.84 million a year earlier to $10.45 million, a drop of roughly 52%. The prior‑year period included higher‑value system sales, so revenue timing causes sizable quarter‑to‑quarter variation. Going forward, the extent to which D‑Wave can grow recurring revenue streams—such as QCaaS (cloud usage fees) and maintenance services—will be critical, not just one‑off system sales.

Another key point is the change in business composition and cash consumption resulting from the acquisition of Quantum Circuits. In January 2026, D‑Wave acquired Quantum Circuits, a developer of gate‑based quantum computers, for approximately $550 million. About $250 million of the purchase consideration was paid in cash and roughly $300 million in stock, resulting in some share dilutionDilution / Dilution / Shareholder Dilution / Equity DilutionAn increase in the number of shares—such as through the issuance of new shares—that causes existing shareholders' ownership percentage and the value per share to be relatively reduced.QI NoteCan occur through issuance of new shares for fundraising or through stock options, among other mechanisms. You should check not only the amount raised but also the number of shares after issuance and the resulting change in existing shareholders' ownership. that has already occurred.

The acquisition means D‑Wave is now advancing both annealing and gate‑based R&D at scale. That shift is reflected in the financials.

Financial metrics (Jan–Sep cumulative)20252026Change
Revenue$21.84 million$10.45 million≈52% decrease
R&D expense$37.06 million$85.58 million≈2.3×
Operating cash flowOperating Cash Flow / Cash Flow from Operating Activities / Operating Cash Flow / Cash Flow from Operating ActivitiesAn indicator that shows the net difference between the cash actually received and the cash actually paid by a company as a result of its core operating activities.QI NoteOperating cash flow can be negative even when operating profit is positive. When assessing a company's financial capacity, you should check not only profits but also whether the company is consistently generating cash.−$53.61 million−$100.90 million≈2.0× outflow
Capital expenditures$2.20 million$12.96 million≈5.9×

Operating cash outflows roughly doubled year over year. Broadly speaking, this reflects the addition of gate‑based development costs to D‑Wave’s existing annealing business. However, existing business development and operating expenses have also increased, so not all of the growth in outflows can be attributed solely to gate‑based work. Note also that the roughly $250 million cash paid for the acquisition is recorded in investing cash flow and is not included in operating cash flow.

Cash and marketable securities stood at about $503.4 million at the end of September, so liquidity is not an immediate concern. The combined monthly outflow from operations and capex averages roughly $13.6 million; at that pace, available cash would cover approximately 3.1 years on a simple basis. If gate‑based investment accelerates and monthly outflows rise to $20–30 million, cash runway would shrink to roughly 1.4–2.1 years. This simple back‑of‑the‑envelope scenario ignores potential revenue growth or government support, so the possibility of future fundraising and further dilution cannot be ruled out.

The up to $100 million agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce could help offset some R&D burden. However, funding is conditional on milestones and is not guaranteed in full. Also, the 100,000‑qubitQubit / Quantum Bit / QubitThe basic unit of information in a quantum computer. It can represent not only 0 or 1 but also a quantum state that is a superposition of them.QI NoteHaving more qubits does not necessarily mean higher performance. Error rates, connectivity, coherence time, and the number of logical qubits are also important. annealing system and the gate‑based system targeting 100 logical qubitsLogical Qubit / Logical QubitA unit of information treated as a single qubit protected from errors by using multiple physical qubits and quantum error correction.QI NoteSimply having “created a logical qubit” does not necessarily mean fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) has been achieved. One should verify logical error rates, operational/gate performance, and scalability. are development goals, not currently demonstrated performance levels.

Separately, NTT DOCOMO’s deployment of a second production application is a meaningful operational proof point for D‑Wave. Optimization covering 333 base stations has been integrated into real network planning and operations, moving beyond mere demonstrations. That said, the published signal reduction figures alone do not demonstrate superiority over comparable classical optimization methods.

D‑Wave’s distinct approach is to pursue customer deployments with annealing systems while investing in gate‑based quantum computing for the longer term. This two‑pronged strategy broadens market opportunities but also requires parallel R&D spending across different technology stacks. Going forward, the key indicators of D‑Wave’s corporate value will be the growth of recurring revenue from annealing business, progress in gate‑based development according to plan, and the company’s ability to scale without excessive reliance on additional equity financing.

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[Continuously updated] Q3 2026 earnings roundup for nine major quantum computing companies — dates, results, and key takeaways

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