D-Wave Quantum Q1 2026 Earnings: Bookings Surge as System-Sale Revenue Fades
D-Wave reported a wider quarterly loss and much lower revenue than a year ago, but bookings and cash on hand both grew sharply.
| Q1 2026 | Reported |
|---|---|
| EPS | -$0.05 |
| Revenue | $2.9M |
Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.
Key takeaways
- Revenue fell 81% from a year earlier, largely because the year-ago quarter included a one-time $12.6 million sale of a full quantum computing system that did not repeat this quarter. Excluding that unusual prior-year sale, the underlying business shows a very different trend from the headline decline.
- Bookings — new customer orders and contracts signed during the quarter, a forward-looking indicator distinct from revenue already recognized — jumped to $33.4 million, up from $1.6 million a year earlier, including a new $20 million system sale to Florida Atlantic University and a $10 million multi-year cloud access agreement.
- Remaining Performance Obligations, the value of signed contracts not yet recognized as revenue, rose to $42.4 million, up sharply from a year earlier, pointing to revenue the company expects to book in future quarters.
- Operating expenses more than doubled to $56.5 million, reflecting the recent acquisition of Quantum Circuits, added research and sales staff, and higher non-cash charges such as stock-based compensation.
- The company ended the quarter with $588 million in cash and investments, up 93% from a year earlier, giving it a large financial cushion relative to its current spending pace.
- Trailing-twelve-month margins remain deeply negative, reflecting that D-Wave is still spending well beyond its current revenue base as it invests in growing its quantum computing business.
- Shares fell in premarket trading after the report, as investors weighed the steep revenue decline against the jump in bookings and contracted future revenue.
Q1 2026 in context
| Metric | Mar 2026 | Mar 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3M | $15M | -80.9% |
| Net income | -$18M | -$5M | -238.6% |
| Free cash flow | -$46M | -$20M | -133.5% |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.05 | -$0.02 | -150.0% |
| Gross margin | 63.6% | 92.5% | -28.9 pts |
| Operating margin | -1914.9% | -75.3% | -1839.6 pts |
| Net margin | -642.3% | -36.1% | -606.2 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
D-Wave Quantum Inc closed at $24.03 on May 11, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $21.44 on May 13, 2026, the first session after it — -10.8% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 6, 2025 | $31.02 | $29.50 | -4.9% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Sources: company report · Investing.com