Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on RGTI. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Rigetti Computing from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rigetti Computing from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Rigetti Computing from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Rigetti Computing Stock Down 5.5%

Rigetti Computing stock opened at $16.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.73. Rigetti Computing has a twelve month low of $12.53 and a twelve month high of $58.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 1.99.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.09 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 2,189.54% and a negative return on equity of 17.50%. Equities analysts expect that Rigetti Computing will post -0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rigetti Computing

In related news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 3,860 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.89, for a total value of $65,195.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,838,651.63. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Joseph Bestwick sold 5,791 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $97,346.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,036,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,417,194.01. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 725,149 shares of company stock valued at $17,345,425 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rigetti Computing

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 454.3% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. PeakShares LLC bought a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. EFG International AG bought a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 320.5% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 35.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Rigetti Computing News

Here are the key news stories impacting Rigetti Computing this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rigetti reported strong second-quarter revenue growth to $5.14 million from $1.80 million a year earlier. The company also highlighted a U.S. Department of Commerce letter of intent for up to $100 million in quantum R&D support and commercial system deliveries involving partners including Nvidia and HPE. Did Quantum Revenue Surge And US$100 Million R&D Backing Just Shift Rigetti Computing’s Investment Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: The company created a dedicated Systems Delivery organization to support growing demand for on-premises quantum systems. David Rivas became chief operating officer, while Andrew Bestwick was appointed chief technology officer to focus on chip development and hardware engineering. Rigetti said the structure should improve customer deployments and help advance its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity for its Cepheus-1-108Q system. Rigetti Computing Establishes Dedicated Systems Delivery Organization
• Neutral Sentiment: Board member Dr. Ray Johnson announced an upcoming resignation, adding to investor focus on governance and management changes. The available report does not indicate that the resignation reflects a change in business strategy. Rigetti Computing Announces Upcoming Board Member Resignation
• Negative Sentiment: Rigetti shares declined along with other quantum-computing stocks, including IonQ and D-Wave, in a broad sector selloff. The report cited no specific company news driving the industry-wide move, suggesting risk reduction across a volatile category. Quantum Stock Selloff
• Negative Sentiment: The reorganization was interpreted by some investors as a leadership shake-up, particularly because it separates systems delivery from chip development. Although management described the changes as an effort to improve execution, investors may remain concerned about transition risk and the company’s ability to meet technology and deployment milestones. Rigetti Shares Plunge After Major Leadership Shake-Up
• Negative Sentiment: CTO Andrew Bestwick, COO David Rivas, and CFO Jeffrey Bertelsen sold shares to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards. The transactions were relatively small portions of their remaining holdings, but the absence of reported insider purchases adds to a cautious sentiment around RGTI.

Rigetti Computing Company Profile

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti’s offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.