Quantum computing pioneer D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) reported today that it has regained listing compliance from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). D-Wave is one of the few independent quantum companies that recently went public via the SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) route. It merged with DPCM Capital about a year ago.
In March of this year, D-Wave Quantum (formerly D-Wave Systems) was notified by the NYSE of noncompliance after its average stock price remained below $1 per share for 30 days. Under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules, public companies have 180 days to bring their stock price back into compliance by raising the price above $1 per share for 30 consecutive trading days.
As of this writing, D-Wave stock was $2.10 and its total market cap was approximately $172.98.
Public markets, as has been widely noted, have not been kind to SPAC stock recently, including the handful of independent quantum computer companies that have used the SPAC route to reach public markets. Rigetti Computing, which went public via a SPAC merger in March 2022, has also been threatened with delisting by the NASDAQ since February. Rigettis stock price was $1.52 at the time of this writing and has bounced around the $1 mark; on June 23, the stock closed at $0.913 a share.
IonQ, which also went public in November 2021 via a SPAC deal, has so far avoided the threat of delisting. As of this writing, IonQ’s share price was $14.86 per share. IonQ stock had stayed in the $4.50 to $7.00 range for the past year before breaking above $10 in late May.
As shown below, D-Wave unveiled an ambitious roadmap at its annual user meeting held in January. Achieving these goals could be difficult without sufficient financial resources.
To a large extent, these remain early days for the entire quantum computing community. Quantum computers remain too small and error-prone to be used in the vast majority of production environments. D-Wave, a longtime gamer, said its quantum annealing systems are indeed ready for prime time HPC thread cover, Qubits23 D-Wave says the quantum wait is over but the markets have not yet agreed.
Quantum development efforts within larger technology companies IBM, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Alibaba, etc. they may have less direct pressure from public markets, but they may also have fewer types of commitments from their parent companies.
There were no executive comments on today’s D-Waves announcement. It said, “On July 3, 2023, the NYSE provided D-Wave with a letter of compliance notification based on (1) the Company’s stock price was at least $1.00 on June 30, 2023, and (2) a calculated the Company’s average closing price for the 30 trading days ended June 30, 2023, which reflected an average closing price in excess of the NYSE’s $1.00 minimum requirement D-Wave will continue to trade on the NYSE, provided you continue to comply with all applicable listing standards.
When D-Wave began trading on the NYSE, CEO Alan Baratz said, “Today marks a significant milestone in our journey as we embark on our next phase as a publicly traded company.” Through this Business Combination, we are well positioned to accelerate our growth strategy, using the capital raised through the Business Combination together with our new access to public markets to advance the production of our quantum computing solutions and continue to unlock the power of the quantum computing for the benefit of business and society. The era of commercial quantum computing is here.
It is worth noting that the quantum computing community has expanded dramatically since D-Wave was formed in 1999 in Canada. The number of potential technologies superconducting qubits, spin qubits, ion trap, neutral atom, photonics, etc. keep increasing. The mix of quantum software, hardware, and services companies has also multiplied, and of course, governments and regions have gotten full-fledged into the quantum race.
D-Wave, whose main product line is based on quantum annealing approaches, recently launched a gate-based quantum computer effort as well. Founded in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, D-Wave has announced plans to move headquarters. “Since D-Wave Quantum Inc. is a US company, its principal executive office, for accounting purposes, will move to the United States. D-Wave Quantum Inc.’s primary subsidiary, D-Wave Systems Inc., will maintain its headquarters and R&D facilities in Burnaby, British Columbia and continue to be an essential location for D-Wave’s business.
The company has about 180 employees and 200 US patents.
#Quantum #Pioneer #DWave #Regains #NYSE #Compliance
Image Source : www.hpcwire.com