$30 Billion Wiped Out: Is This Quantum's Dot-Com Moment?
Quantum computing stocks didn't correct — they detonated. IonQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ), Rigetti Computing Inc (NYSE:RGTI), D-Wave Quantum Inc (NYSE:QBTS) and Quantum Computing Inc (NASDAQ:QUBT) have lost more than $30 billion in market value in just weeks, plunging 40–55% from their euphoric mid-October highs.
- Track IONQ stock here.
For a sector that marketed itself as "the next platform shift," this looks less like a dip… and more like a dot-com-style valuation event.
The Bubble Narrative Is Now Front And Center
The selloff isn't about quarterly numbers or guidance cuts. It's about the market suddenly realizing that commercialization timelines were wildly optimistic. Quantum wasn't going to replace classical computing by 2030 — and once that belief cracked, the entire hype premium went with it.
In other words, these stocks didn't fall because they disappointed. They fell because the story driving them broke.
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Valuations Look Tech-Bubble Rich
Even after shedding half their market caps, many pure-play quantum names still trade at 200x to 900x sales — levels that only make sense when investors believe a trillion-dollar market is around the corner. With widening losses and burn rates accelerating, that belief has evaporated.
This is why several analysts now argue this isn't capitulation — it's the first true valuation reset the sector has faced since going public via SPACs.
Sorting The Survivors From The Speculation
The crash is also forcing a clearer separation between science projects and companies with a path to real revenue.
- IonQ attracts institutional attention thanks to its hardware roadmap.
- Rigetti leans on government contracts but must prove execution.
- D-Wave has working systems in the field, though critics argue its annealing approach is a technological cul-de-sac.
- QUBT remains the pure sentiment trade — high upside in rallies, high pain in resets.
Is This The Bottom — Or The Start?
Dot-com comparisons aren't casual. Then, as now, the narrative moved faster than the technology. If you think quantum utility is 20–30 years out, this crash is overdue normalization. If you believe breakthroughs will arrive sooner, this could be the rare entry point long-term believers rarely get.
Quantum isn't disappearing — but the bubble around it may finally be popping.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.