Rigetti Computing Stock Nosedives On Q4 Earnings Miss, Retail's Feeling Bearish

Shares of Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI) plunged 11% during Wednesday’s after-hours trading after the company’s fourth-quarter results fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Rigetti reported a loss of $0.68 per share during Q4, far higher than an estimated $0.07. The company’s losses ballooned on a year-on-year basis, too, from $0.09 a year earlier.

Its revenue of $2.27 million also missed expectations of $2.5 million and is significantly down from $3.38 million during the corresponding period of the previous year.

While analysts had expressed optimism about Rigetti’s prospects, retail traders on Stocktwits did not share the sentiment. The overall mood was in the ‘bearish’ (44/100) territory, even as message volume more than doubled on Wednesday.

Rigetti also emerged as the top trending stock on the platform, showing considerable interest among retail investors.

The company announced a new strategic collaboration with Quanta Computer Inc. to accelerate and commercialize superconducting quantum computing.

“The companies have committed to investing more than $100 million each over the next five years pursuant to the collaboration agreement, with both sides focusing on their complementary strengths to develop superconducting quantum computing technologies,” Rigetti said while noting that Quanta will pick up shares in the company worth $35 million.

One bullish investor on Stocktwits tried to reassure others, saying that quantum computing companies are in the “early stage” right now.

FinChat data shows of the six brokerage ratings for the RGTI stock, five have a ‘Buy’ rating, while there’s one ‘Outperform’ recommendation.

The average price target was $14.60, implying a 78% upside from Wednesday’s close.

Rigetti’s stock has seen a massive uptick in the past six months, gaining more than 922% during this period.

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Also See: Marvell Technology Plunges Despite Q4 Earnings Beat, Analysts Downgrade Stock On Growing Competition – But Retail Sentiment Soars