Over the last year, quantum computing has shifted from being a tech buzzword to being a real, emerging industry.
Last October, Google's Quantum Echoes algorithm, running on its Willow quantum chip, achieved computing speeds 13,000 times faster than the best conventional supercomputers.
In May, the Department of Commerce signed letters of intent with nine tech companies to provide billions of dollars in incentives for quantum computer development. A month later, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a national industrial strategy for quantum computing, including public-private partnerships to develop quantum computers for government use.
And in July, a publicly traded quantum computing company, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), earned some private-sector revenue through a deal with AT&T, supplying the company with quantum computing hardware that will help improve the performance of its telecommunications networks.
But this technology is still very young. For now, it's still big news that a quantum computing company has earned any non-government revenue. So is quantum computing really worth investing in yet, or is it too early to tell who will excel in the space? Here’s the lowdown.
What is quantum computing, anyway?
We’re not going to explain the workings of quantum computers in great detail here, because frankly, it’s hard to really grasp the nuts and bolts unless you have a postgraduate degree in physics. But here’s our attempt at a broad-strokes explanation of why quantum computing is a potentially valuable technology:
Quantum physics is a scientific discipline that mainly studies physics on extremely small scales and extremely short timeframes. (We’re talking about, for example, the speed and distance at which an electron orbits an atomic nucleus). Computer engineering also increasingly operates at the nano-scale; thumbnail-sized computer chips consist of billions of individual circuits, and each of those circuits may only consist of a few individual atoms lined up.
In recent years, computer scientists have realized that there are ways to exploit various quantum physics phenomena to build the fastest computers ever created. After all, computers use electricity, which is the movement of electrons, to store and manipulate information. By taking advantage of the weird things electrons do at tiny quantum scales — for example, superpositioning, or existing in two places at once — quantum computers can do things that conventional computers can't.
Quantum computing is a broad umbrella term that describes a lot of different techniques. Some, for example, involve cooling the computer hardware to temperatures near absolute zero in order to get rid of heat-related interference, allowing for ultra-precise computing that helps quantum computers greatly outperform conventional hardware.
6 best-performing pure-play quantum computing stocks
We trawled Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to find well-established public companies with market caps of at least $1 billion that are mostly or entirely focused on quantum computing technology. As we mentioned earlier, at least one of these companies is bringing in revenue from corporate clients. We've listed them below in order of one-year performance.
You'll notice that there's a wide range of performance numbers here, some positive, some negative. These companies are quite a bit smaller than the big tech stocks in terms of market cap, and they've had some ups and downs in recent years amid the hype cycles around quantum computing.
The best-performing pure-play quantum computing stock by one-year return is D-Wave Quantum Inc (QBTS), which is up 10.38%. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) | ||
QBTS | D-Wave Quantum Inc | 10.38% | ||
INFQ | Infleqtion Inc | 9.57% | ||
RGTI | Rigetti Computing Inc | 3.56% | ||
QNT | Quantinuum Inc | -2.48% | ||
IONQ | IonQ Inc | -3.66% | ||
QUBT | Quantum Computing Inc | -45.73% | ||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 6, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||
5 large-cap tech stocks making big contributions to quantum computing
The big tech stocks below may not be pure-play quantum computing stocks — in fact, quantum computing makes up little if any of their revenue — but they're some of the biggest names in quantum computing nonetheless. After all, we name-checked one of them in the intro of this article.
The best-performing large-cap tech stock with quantum computing exposure by one-year return is Alphabet Inc (GOOG), which is up 81.21%. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) | ||
GOOG | Alphabet Inc | 81.21% | ||
AMZN | Amazon.com Inc | 22.47% | ||
HON | Honeywell International Inc | 11.23% | ||
MSFT | Microsoft Corp | -4.78% | ||
IBM | International Business Machines Corp | -7.47% | ||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 6, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||
Below is a little context on each company's quantum computing program.
Alphabet: Longtime leader in the development of cutting-edge quantum hardware and software — most recently the Willow chip and the Quantum Echoes algorithm.
IBM: Offers access to quantum computers through its cloud products. Part of the Dept. of Commerce's quantum computing program.
Microsoft: Offers access to quantum computers through its cloud products and conducts in-house quantum computing research.
Amazon: Offers access to quantum computers through its cloud products and conducts in-house quantum computing research.
Honeywell: Owns about half of Quantinuum (which was spun off in part from Honeywell's quantum computing division).
Brokerage firms | |
|---|---|
Quantum computing ETFs
There are three ETFs on the market today that claim to track an index of quantum computing stocks. We've listed them below in order of year-to-date performance, and also noted their expense ratios.
The best-performing quantum computing ETF by year-to-date return is Global X AI Semiconductor & Quantum ETF (CHPX), which is up 71.40%. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund / Company | Net Expense Ratio | Performance (YTD) | ||
Global X AI Semiconductor & Quantum ETF (CHPX) | 0.50% | 71.40% | ||
Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) | 0.40% | 36.09% | ||
WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM) | 0.45% | 29.56% | ||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 6, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||
There's a caveat worth noting about these ETFs, though: None of them are made up solely of pure-play quantum stocks, and they all mix in some amount of large-cap tech.
But this isn't an equally large problem with all three funds. WQTM is largely weighted toward the pure-play quantum stocks shown in the first table, and only holds a small amount of quantum-relevant big tech names (many of which are present in the second table). The other two ETFs, however, have only trace exposure to pure-play quantum stocks, and are mostly just big tech funds .
» Homemade quantum computing ETFs? See brokers with custom portfolio-building tools.
Is it too early to invest in quantum computing stocks?
An April 2026 report from McKinsey estimates that the quantum computing industry generated about $1 billion in revenue last year, which could grow to $4.4 billion by 2028.
These sound like big numbers out of context, but it’s worth noting that by tech investing standards, they’re actually pretty modest. $4.4 billion is less than one-tenth of IBM's 2025 annual revenue.
However, McKinsey's report highlights the growth potential of quantum computing — $1 billion in 2025 to $4.4 billion in 2028 means that the industry's revenue would more than double every year, which is nothing to sneeze at in terms of growth rate.
So while quantum computing is still a small industry by tech standards, it's made some real leaps in recent years — and it could make some even bigger, ahem, quantum leaps ahead.
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Disclosures:
Neither the author nor editor owned positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication.
In compiling the tables above, we used AI coding tools to help us screen SEC filings. The resulting data has been reviewed by our team for quality and accuracy.
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary, trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high standards for journalism by reading our editorial guidelines.
- 1.Google. Our Quantum Echoes algorithm is a big step toward real-world applications for quantum computing. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 2.National Institute of Standards and Technology. Department of Commerce Announces Letters of Intent With 9 Companies for $2 Billion to Accelerate U.S. Leadership in Quantum Computing. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 3.The White House. USHERING IN THE NEXT FRONTIER OF QUANTUM INNOVATION.
- 4.D-Wave Quantum. AT&T Signs Agreement to Expand Use of D-Wave's Quantum Computing Technology Across Network Operations.
- 5.Interesting Engineering. We can’t make transistors any smaller, is this the end of Moore’s law?.
- 6.Caltech Science Exchange. What Is Superposition and Why Is It Important?. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 7.NC State University. Quantum Cooling for Quantum Computing. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 8.WisdomTree. WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 9.Global X ETFs. AI Semiconductor & Quantum ETF. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 10.Defiance ETFs. QTUM. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 11.McKinsey Technology. McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor 2026: A commercial tipping point. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
- 12.Securities and Exchange Commission. IBM 2025 Annual Report. Accessed Aug 6, 2026.
