Quantum stocks are soaring yet again – here's why

Quantum computing stocks soared on Thursday after the White House said it will take equity stakes worth a total of $2bn in several different companies operating in the frontier market.

Shares of IBM and GlobalFoundries were among those to jump after the Commerce Department said it had signed letters of intent with nine firms in the quantum computing space. IBM is set to $1bn while GlobalFoundries will receive $375mn. IBM's investment is designed to build an American quantum chip foundry, which the firm said would secure the nation’s global quantum leadership and fuel the country’s growing quantum ecosystem. 

Pureplay quantum names were also among the recipients of the investment with D-Wave Quantum up more than 22%. Rigetti Computing, which is set to receive $100mn, jumped over 23%. Among other pureplay names IonQ rallied 10% despite being notably absent from the list of nine companies, while Quantum Computing rose 15%. Other recipients of $100mn included PsiQuantum, Atom Computing, Infleqtion and Quantinuum. Startup Diraq will receive $38mn.

“With today’s CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities.”

It's the latest move by the Trump administration to take equity stakes in areas it deems important to both the US economy and national security. Last year the Commerce Department took a 10% stake in Intel – the stock has risen approximately 400% since the investment was announced on 22 Aug 2025. The White House also took stakes in rare earths miners MP Materials and USA Rare Earth last year - both of which have seen their stock price rise sharply since - to boost US production and reduce reliance on China. 

The quantum computing market is expected to surpass $11 billion in 2030, according to analyst firm Resonance. Whilst there is clearly a market for this technology, these stocks have gravely disappointed investors in the past and shares remain extremely volatile with the technology seen as a long way off commercialisation.