D wave

D-Wave: Q2 2026 Revenue $3.1M; First-Half Bookings Expand More Than 12x

D-Wave Quantum on August 6, 2026 announced its second-quarter 2026 results. Revenue was $3.1M, roughly flat year-over-year, and the net loss was $48.0M. Meanwhile, first-half bookings expanded to $35.5M, up 1,120% year-over-year, and the company published development roadmaps for both its annealing and gate-based approaches.

Summary of the Announcement

Q2 revenue flat; expenses rise on development investments

Revenue for Q2 2026 was $3.1M, essentially unchanged from $3.1M in the year-ago quarter. GAAP gross profit was $1.7M, with a gross margin of 55.4%, down from 63.8% a year earlier. GAAP operating expenses rose 93% year-over-year to $55.0M. Increases in payroll and stock-based compensation, depreciation, and external professional services contributed to a net loss of $48.0M and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $37.1M. The reduction in net loss versus the prior year was mainly due to a decline in non-cash, non-operating expenses associated with the revaluation of warrant liabilities.

First-half bookings and remaining performance obligations grow

First-half bookings for 2026 were $35.5M, a 1,120% increase from $2.9M in the prior-year period. Of that total, $20.0M was system sales expected to be recognized as revenue in future quarters. Remaining performance obligations as of the end of June were $40.7M, up 668% year-over-year. The company expects roughly 57% of that amount to be recognized as revenue in the next 12 months and 72% over the next two years. First-half revenue was $5.9M, down 67% year-over-year, affected by the absence of $13.7M in annealing quantum computer sales that were recorded in the prior-year period. Of first-half QCaaS revenue, $1.3M originated from production applications, representing 37.3% of total QCaaS revenue; the ratio in the prior-year period was 9.8%.

Roadmaps presented for both approaches

For the annealing approach, the company set targets for its multi-chip next-generation Advantage3 to scale to 20,000 qubits by 2029 and 100,000 qubits by 2031. For the gate-based approach, the plan is to scale from 17 physical qubits in 2026 to 10 logical qubits by 2030 and 100 logical qubits by 2032. The company published research in Nature demonstrating a two-qubit entangling gate that preserves error-correction-relevant properties of superconducting dual-rail qubits. It also outlined plans to provide a gate-based simulator for programming that accounts for errors.

Key Points

  • Q2 2026 revenue was $3.1M, net loss was $48.0M, and adjusted EBITDA loss was $37.1M.
  • First-half bookings were $35.5M, up 1,120% year-over-year, including $20.0M of system sales.
  • Remaining performance obligations as of the end of June were $40.7M, up 668% year-over-year, with about 57% expected to be recognized as revenue in the next 12 months.
  • The annealing roadmap targets 20,000 qubits in 2029 and 100,000 qubits in 2031.
  • The gate-based roadmap targets 10 logical qubits in 2030 and 100 logical qubits in 2032, and the company published results on a dual-rail approach.

Technical and Business Implications

The increase in bookings and remaining performance obligations indicates an expanded backlog that should translate into future revenue. The rising share of revenue from commercial customers and the increase in the portion of QCaaS revenue coming from production applications also point to broader enterprise adoption. However, with Q2 revenue flat and higher operating expenses and an increased adjusted EBITDA loss due to development and go-to-market investments, the timing of when bookings growth will translate into improved profitability remains unclear.

On the technical side, the strategy to pursue both large-scale quantum annealing and error-tolerant gate-based development in parallel is now clearer. That said, targeted qubit counts and error-reduction levels are future goals; the realized performance at each stage and the feasibility of commercial delivery will need to be validated over time.

What to Watch Next

Key near-term questions include whether the bookings and remaining performance obligations that include $20.0M of system sales will convert to revenue in line with the company’s projections. On the technical front, it will be important to see whether the 17-physical-qubit gate-based system planned for 2026 can demonstrate logical error rates below physical error rates. Progress on the implementation and interconnect technologies needed for Advantage3’s multi-chip approach, and whether the share of QCaaS usage from production applications continues to grow, are also critical metrics to monitor.

✍️ Quantum Index Analysis

The salient point in this results announcement is not the headline 1,120% increase in bookings per se, but whether the backlog actually begins to convert into revenue. First-half revenue was down 67% year-over-year, and Q2 was flat; at present there is a clear gap between bookings growth and near-term operating performance.

The $20.0M of system sales and $40.7M of remaining performance obligations provide potential future revenue, but operating expenses rose 93% and adjusted EBITDA loss widened. The narrowing of the net loss is largely attributable to a revaluation of warrant liabilities rather than an improvement in operating profitability, so it would be premature to conclude that profitability has materially improved.

The roadmaps—to deliver a 20,000-qubit annealer by 2029 and a 100-logical-qubit gate-based system by 2032—are ambitious but represent different kinds of targets and cannot be directly compared by qubit count alone.

For the annealing path, the significance of a 20,000-qubit device lies less in the raw qubit count and more in how multi-chip scaling affects connectivity, noise, and the practical problem sizes that can be addressed. The gate-based 100-logical-qubit target is also highly ambitious, but it is a multi-year goal and, given the Quantum Circuits–derived dual-rail approach, it cannot be dismissed outright as unrealistic at this stage. The first confirmation to watch for is whether the 17-physical-qubit system can demonstrate logical error rates below physical error rates, and whether that result can be extended to larger qubit counts.

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