Should You Invest $500 in Rigetti Computing Right Now?
- - Should You Invest $500 in Rigetti Computing Right Now?
Lyle Daly, The Motley FoolFebruary 17, 2026 at 2:05 AM
0
Key Points -
Rigetti Computing is extremely expensive considering how little revenue it generates.
Its quantum computing systems are fast, but their accuracy lags the competition.
10 stocks we like better than Rigetti Computing ›
After impressive gains in 2025, quantum computing stocks have been less successful in 2026. One of the most popular, Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), has declined 27% on the year through the week ending Feb. 13.
The question for potential investors with $500 to spare is whether this is an opportunity to buy the dip or just the beginning of a larger correction.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
People working in a quantum computing lab.
Image source: Getty Images.
I lean toward the latter. Pure-play quantum computing companies, including Rigetti, IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Quantum Computing, took off last year, but they're largely speculative investments.
They don't generate much revenue. Rigetti made just $1.9 million in sales in the third quarter of 2025, a small figure for a company worth $5 billion. And they're all likely several years away, at a minimum, from developing commercially viable quantum computers.
To its credit, Rigetti's quantum computing systems are ultra-fast, currently achieving gate speeds of 50 nanoseconds, about 1,000 times faster than other systems, such as the trapped ion systems favored by IonQ. A faster gate speed means a quantum computer can perform more operations within a given time period.
What Rigetti's systems lack is accuracy. Its 108-qubit system, which is its largest, has achieved a median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99%. Gate fidelity is an accuracy measurement for quantum computing systems. For quantum systems to become widely used, they'll likely need gate fidelity of at least 99.99%, a mark that IonQ has achieved but that Rigetti hasn't. Rigetti has hit 99.7% on its 9-qubit system, but the final hundredths of a percent are exponentially more difficult to achieve.
I'm not sold that quantum computing companies are that close to commercial viability. In a January 2026 investor presentation, Rigetti management projected that it would have a 1,000-qubit system with over 99.9% fidelity in three to five years.
There are plenty of quality tech stocks with present-day commercial applications and fair valuations. You may want to consider one of them instead of risking $500 on Rigetti.
Should you buy stock in Rigetti Computing right now?
Before you buy stock in Rigetti Computing, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Rigetti Computing wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $414,554!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,120,663!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 884% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of February 17, 2026.
Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: “AOL Money”
