Should You Invest $500 in Rigetti Computing Right Now?
Key Points
Rigetti Computing is extremely expensive considering how little revenue it generates.
Its quantum computing systems are fast, but their accuracy lags the competition.
- 10 stocks we like better than Rigetti Computing ›
After impressive gains in 2025, quantum computing stocks have been less successful in 2026. One of the most popular, Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), has declined 27% on the year through the week ending Feb. 13.
The question for potential investors with $500 to spare is whether this is an opportunity to buy the dip or just the beginning of a larger correction.
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I lean toward the latter. Pure-play quantum computing companies, including Rigetti, IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Quantum Computing, took off last year, but they're largely speculative investments.
They don't generate much revenue. Rigetti made just $1.9 million in sales in the third quarter of 2025, a small figure for a company worth $5 billion. And they're all likely several years away, at a minimum, from developing commercially viable quantum computers.
To its credit, Rigetti's quantum computing systems are ultra-fast, currently achieving gate speeds of 50 nanoseconds, about 1,000 times faster than other systems, such as the trapped ion systems favored by IonQ. A faster gate speed means a quantum computer can perform more operations within a given time period.
What Rigetti's systems lack is accuracy. Its 108-qubit system, which is its largest, has achieved a median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99%. Gate fidelity is an accuracy measurement for quantum computing systems. For quantum systems to become widely used, they'll likely need gate fidelity of at least 99.99%, a mark that IonQ has achieved but that Rigetti hasn't. Rigetti has hit 99.7% on its 9-qubit system, but the final hundredths of a percent are exponentially more difficult to achieve.
I'm not sold that quantum computing companies are that close to commercial viability. In a January 2026 investor presentation, Rigetti management projected that it would have a 1,000-qubit system with over 99.9% fidelity in three to five years.
There are plenty of quality tech stocks with present-day commercial applications and fair valuations. You may want to consider one of them instead of risking $500 on Rigetti.
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Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
