Ten companies—predominantly involved in the quantum computing sector—have taken the spotlight on Thursday, booking significant gains despite a lackluster performance from Wall Street’s main indices.
Today, let’s take a look at the top 10 gainers and explore how they have performed so far.
To come up with Thursday’s top gainers, we considered only the stocks that have at least $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.
A laptop screen showing stock market data. Photo by Alesia Kozik
10. IONQ Inc. (IONQ)
Shares of IonQ on Thursday rose to an all-time high of $48.24, marking an 8-percent increase from the $44.58 close on Tuesday, as investors placed bets on the company’s further growth potential and impressive earnings performance over the past year.
Year-to-date, IonQ’s stock price has already jumped by 296 percent, underscoring investor optimism.
According to analysts, the company has demonstrated impressive revenue growth of 90 percent over the last 12 months.
Various Wall Street analysts also weighed in positively on technology companies, specifically IonQ.
Last Monday, Morgan Stanley Joseph Moore increased his price target for IonQ to $37 from $14.90, saying, “We can’t identify a clear catalyst for this kind of equity appreciation in the space over that time, but we do see continued indications that investment in quantum should continue growing at a rapid pace.”
9. Peloton Interactive Inc. (PTON)
Shares of Peloton Interactive registered a 9.72-percent increase on Thursday, finishing the day at $10.27 apiece from $9.36 on Tuesday. Year-to-date, the company’s stock price recorded an impressive 76-percent improvement.
According to analysts, investors took heart on the company’s solid quarterly results, having narrowed its net loss by 99.44 percent.
The fitness technology company known for its at-home exercise equipment and interactive online workout classes also earned higher price targets from analysts, with Telsey Advisory Group increasing its price target to $9 from $5 earlier.
Similarly, JP Morgan raised its target price for Peloton to $7 from $5 earlier, while Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. increased its price target for the firm to $6.5 from $4.25.
The Bank of America gave the most bullish target for the company, boosting its price to $9 from $3.75 earlier.
8. Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY)
Joby Aviation (JOBY) registered a 10.9-percent growth in its share price on Thursday to finish the day at $9.16 apiece from the $8.26 close on Tuesday. Year-to-date, the company saw its share price grow by nearly 50 percent.
Analysts pointed to the innovative flying machines, also known as flying taxis, as having perked up the company’s performance, with Joby one of the firms at the forefront of the said technology.
The foundation for air taxis is currently being laid out. In October this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its final Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) on powered-lift pilot certification and operation which will pave the way for the widespread use of air taxis.
According to Joby, it plans to conduct its first initial flight in Dubai in the first half of 2025, with full commercial operations targeted in the second half of next year.
7. Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT)
Quantum Computing (QUBT) has been on the list of top gainers over the past few weeks, with the company booking a 12.55-percent gain anew on Thursday to finish at $19.24 apiece.
Year-to-date, the company has seen a whopping 2,061-percent jump in its share prices, from only $0.89 each on January 2, 2024.
According to analysts, the company continued to ride on the quantum computing craze, as it is believed to become a transformative force across industries.
Quantum Computing posted notable gains last week after announcements that the company secured a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center for its imaging technology called Dirac-3. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Momentum for quantum computing is also accelerating fast, with US lawmakers announcing a $2.7 billion government funding to supercharge quantum innovation across computing, sensing, and communications.
6. Enovix Corp. (ENVX)
Battery manufacturer Enovix (ENVX) saw its share prices grow by 13.29 percent on Thursday to finish at $11.42 after achieving another milestone.
Last week, the company announced that it has shipped its second-generation EX-2M samples to its customers. Consistent with its plan, the battery samples demonstrated an energy density improvement of approximately 10 percent over the EX-1M products.
The company expects to officially launch EX-2M batteries in 2026 and assure an energy density lead in the smartphone industry.
Following the milestone, Enovix secured its first mobile phone customer purchase order. The orders for custom samples, currently covered by a nondisclosure agreement, is contingent on the successful completion of a key milestone. The product is expected to enter mass production in late 2025.
5. Quantumscape Corp. (QS)
Quantumscape saw its stock price rally by 14.34 percent on Thursday to end the day at $6.14 apiece.
The company, which focuses on developing solid-state lithium-metal battery technology for electric vehicles, recently announced the delivery, installation, and release of initial processing of Cobra equipment.
Cobra represents a significant innovation in ceramic solid-state separator production. The milestone is said to be the culmination of advanced research and development on Quantumscape’s fast separator production process, which it regards as the core innovation that will allow its battery technology to be manufactured at a gigawatt-hour scale.
Quantumscape said achieving such a milestone on schedule puts it on track to deliver higher-volume samples of its first planned commercial product in 2025, and is a major step toward the commercialization of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.
4. SoundHound AI Inc. (SOUN)
SoundHound AI continued to be in the stock market spotlight, recording an impressive 19.71-percent increase in Thursday’s trading to finish at $24.33 each.
The year-to-date stock price also marked a whopping 1,064 percent rally, indicating a very positive reception from investors.
According to analysts, the company’s performance was fueled by the booming AI industry, which allowed for a more bullish coverage.
On Monday, SoundHound AI earned a buy rating and a higher target price from HC Wainwright from $8 per share to $26 apiece.
While Wainwright’s analysts noted that recent valuation gains were primarily driven by market excitement, they believed that the company will perform well enough to support its growth-dependent valuation.
3. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS)
Shares of D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) rallied by 24.53 percent on Thursday to close at $9.90 apiece, with the booming quantum computing industry continuing to create a domino effect on quantum computing stocks, including D-Wave.
Year-to-date, it registered an impressive growth of 1,107 percent from the $0.82 registered on January 2.
D-Wave Quantum, a Canada-based firm that designs and sells quantum computing systems and provides a quantum-as-a-service (QaaS) platform, has been capitalizing on the recent surge in quantum advancements.
Analysts believed that Google’s Willow chips and Amazon’s Embark quantum advancements have sparked a broader rally in the quantum stocks at large, including D-Wave.
It is also worth noting that US lawmakers recently announced $2.7 billion in government funding to supercharge quantum innovation across computing, sensing, and communications.
2. Rumble Inc. (RUM)
Shares of Rumble rallied anew on Thursday, registering a 28.31-percent increase to close at $16.27. Year-to-date, the company saw its share prices rose by almost four folds from the $4.34 closing on January 2.
Last week, the company announced that it entered into a definitive agreement for a strategic investment of $775 million from Tether, the largest company in the digital assets industry and the most widely used dollar stablecoin across the world with more than 350 million users. Over the last few years, Tether has become one of the most recognized symbols of financial inclusion.
According to Rumble (RUM), a total of $250 million of the proceeds will be used to support growth initiatives and the remaining proceeds to fund a self-tender offer for up to 70 million Class A common shares.
1. Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI)
Rigetti Computing was Thursday’s top performer, with its share price jumping 36.04 percent to close at $15.44. Among the day’s biggest gainers, it also posted the highest year-to-date growth, soaring 1,578 percent.
Similar to other quantum computing stocks, Rigetti is benefiting from the rapid expansion of the global quantum computing market, currently valued at $1.3 billion. The market is projected to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.7 percent, potentially reaching $5.3 billion by 2029.
According to analysts, Rigetti stands to largely benefit from the expected growth, as they provide developers with essential resources and recently debuted their innovative Novera quantum processor.
It is also worth noting that Google’s advancements in the Quantum space with its newest Willow chip contributed to the rally on shares of Quantum stocks, including Rigetti.
While we acknowledge the potential of RGTI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RGTI but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.