Rigetti: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
On its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Nov. 10, 2026, Rigetti (RGTI -4.49%) announced that nine-month revenue reached $10.9 million, exceeding its total revenue for all of 2025. Long-term investors must evaluate technical execution and capital allocation as quantum hardware progresses toward commercial viability. Three things management said on the call stand out.
1. Modular Chiplet Architecture Validates Scaling Strategy
Rigetti measures system performance on its 108-qubit quantum processing unit (QPU), a computer chip that performs calculations using superconducting circuits. Connecting twelve identical nine-qubit chiplets allows the company to scale physical qubit count without sacrificing fidelity, which measures operational accuracy.
Cepheus-1-108Q demonstrated that multiple identical chiplets can be tied into a larger system. Our next phase will extend that approach through higher density chip architectures, improved interconnects, expanded cryogenic capacity and more compact readout and control electronics.
— Subodh Kulkarni, President and Chief Executive Officer
2. Federal R&D Award Funds Key System Bottlenecks
The company signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) Research and Development Office. Up to $100 million in milestone-based funding will directly target solutions to hardware constraints in refrigeration capacity, chip connectivity, and miniaturized readout electronics.
We view this agreement as an important validation of Rigetti’s technology and of the strategic role superconducting quantum computing can play in maintaining U.S. leadership in an area with significant national security and economic implications.
— Subodh Kulkarni, President and Chief Executive Officer
3. Technology Roadmap Targets 300 Qubits by Mid-2028
Developing commercially useful quantum hardware requires simultaneous progress across qubit count, operation speed, and error rates. Rigetti set an intermediate target to demonstrate a 300-qubit system before reaching its ultimate goal of 1,000 physical qubits in three years.
Our next major system objective is to demonstrate a 300-plus qubit system with approximately 99.7% median two-qubit gate fidelity and gate speeds below 60 nanoseconds by mid-2028.
— Subodh Kulkarni, President and Chief Executive Officer
Looking Ahead
Commercial quantum adoption remains an early-stage research endeavor across enterprise clients and national laboratories, and Rigetti is focusing capital on clear technical milestones. The company maintains an advantage by housing high qubit counts inside single dilution refrigerators, avoiding the expense and latency penalty of networking separate fridges together. Management tracks progress through gate speed, operation fidelity, and real-time error mitigation.
At this stage, most quantum computing remains research-oriented. Customers are developing algorithms, building internal expertise and evaluating how quantum processors could fit into their computing environments.
— Subodh Kulkarni, President and Chief Executive Officer
Executing on modular chiplet density and cryogenic efficiency underpins the company’s plan to achieve practical quantum advantage without spiraling capital expenditure (capex).
We are driving toward the intermediate milestone in 2028 and in to the 1,000 qubit level, and that is requiring some capex investment. So in 2027, I don’t think you’ll see it go back to where we were in 2025 and 2024. So it will be closer to where we’re at this year when the dust settles.
— Jeffrey Bertelsen, Chief Financial Officer
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