Quantum Computing Inc.'s Chip Bet Comes Into Focus: $5.6 Million in Photonics Revenue, Sold at a Loss
Quantum Computing Inc. is trying to answer a question that hangs over the whole small-cap quantum complex: can a company this size actually manufacture the chips it sells? The company's second-quarter report, released August 10, showed revenue of $5.6 million — up from just $61,000 a year earlier, a roughly 91-fold increase — driven by photonics products spanning aerospace, government and industrial applications, according to the company's release distributed via PR Newswire.
The catch sits one line below. Cost of revenue was $6.7 million, leaving a gross loss of about $1.2 million and a negative 21% gross margin, as tech news site TS2 detailed in its analysis of the filing. In other words, every dollar of chip and systems revenue currently costs more than a dollar to produce — a familiar dynamic in early-stage semiconductor manufacturing, where fabs must be staffed and equipped long before volumes justify them.
The company has been buying its way into that manufacturing footprint. QUBT completed three acquisitions in 2026 — Luminar Semiconductor, NuCrypt and advanced-packaging specialist NHanced Semiconductors, the last for $73.1 million upfront with up to $72 million in contingent payments — deploying roughly $180 million of cash on deals during the year, per TS2. Chief executive Yuping Huang said the strategy is aimed at making quantum products 'smaller, more practical and more accessible,' with expanded manufacturing running through the company's Fab 2 operations, according to the release.
The balance sheet is what makes the buildout possible. QUBT ended June with about $1.3 billion in cash and investments against total liabilities of $47.2 million, per the release — and that cash is doing heavy lifting on the income statement. Interest and other income reached $13.0 million for the quarter, more than double product revenue, a point TS2 flagged as evidence that the company still earns more from its treasury than from its chips. The net loss narrowed 68% year over year to $11.8 million, or $0.05 per share, even as operating expenses more than doubled to $21.8 million.
Forward indicators offered some support for the manufacturing thesis. The company reported a contract backlog of $42.5 million — about seven and a half quarters of current revenue, by TS2's math — along with a framework agreement with Planck Dynamics it values at potentially more than $10 million, a Dirac-3 optimization system sold and deployed to a consulting firm, and a purchase order from a leading university for quantum secure communications, per the release.
The market's verdict was cool. Shares fell 2.7% to close at $8.93 on Monday ahead of the release and slipped another 1.0% to $8.84 after hours once the numbers hit, TS2 reported, though the site noted sell-side coverage remains constructive, with an average price target of $18.33 across four Buy and two Hold ratings.
Within the quarter's peer scoreboard, QUBT's $5.6 million slots just ahead of Rigetti's $5.1 million and D-Wave's $3.1 million, and far behind IonQ's $80.1 million, per TS2's comparison. But the more telling contrast may be strategic: like IonQ with SkyWater, QUBT is wagering that owning fabrication and packaging — not just designing systems — is the durable position in quantum hardware. The second quarter showed what that wager costs while the volumes are still small; the backlog will show whether it pays.
