--- title: "Rigetti's $1.4 million quarter leaves its $20 million year resting on India's C-DAC" description: "Rigetti hit its 99.5 percent fidelity milestone and still booked $1.4 million of quarterly revenue against a $33.2 million operating loss. The $20 million full-year target now hangs on one customer signature, and Washington owns a piece of the company waiting for it." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Chips" published: 2026-11-11T00:05:49.486Z modified: 2026-11-11T00:05:49.486Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/rigetti-s-1-4-million-quarter-leaves-its-20-million-year-resting-on-india-s-c-dac language: en keywords: "Rigetti Computing, Quantum Computing, Earnings, Semiconductors, Government Funding" --- # Rigetti's $1.4 million quarter leaves its $20 million year resting on India's C-DAC > Rigetti hit its 99.5 percent fidelity milestone and still booked $1.4 million of quarterly revenue against a $33.2 million operating loss. The $20 million full-year target now hangs on one customer signature, and Washington owns a piece of the company waiting for it. [Rigetti](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/rigetti) Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI), the Berkeley maker of superconducting quantum computers, [filed third-quarter results tonight](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1838359/000110465926125152/0001104659-26-125152-index.htm) that state the whole bet in three numbers. The quarter produced $1.4 million of revenue [1]. The operating loss behind it was $33.2 million [1]. And the full-year target of about $20 million rests on one customer accepting one system in the fourth quarter, an acceptance that has not happened [1]. The physics is arriving on schedule; the income statement is nowhere near it, and the distance between the two is being paid for by shareholders and, since September, by the taxpayer. ## The fidelity milestone is real, and it is the first hop of four The Cepheus-1-108Q machine held 99.5 percent median two-qubit gate fidelity this quarter, the goal Rigetti had set for itself [1]. Gate fidelity is the error rate of the basic operation a quantum computer performs, and holding it down on a processor tiled from twelve 9-qubit chiplets is the company's entire scaling argument: small, good dies stitched into large ones [1]. The rest of the chain is roadmap. A 300-plus-qubit system is targeted for mid-2028, with faster gates and denser refrigeration [1]. Beyond that sits roughly 1,000 qubits at 99.9 percent fidelity within about three years, the combination Rigetti says could demonstrate quantum advantage [1]. Observation ends at tonight's number; everything past it is target language. The buyers today are national laboratories and research centers, and no one's work changes until the machine at the far end exists [1]. ## The books still describe a research program Nine-month revenue roughly doubled from last year, yet the quarter itself shrank [1]. The GAAP net loss of $3.1 million is mostly a mark on warrant liabilities rather than operations [2]. Strip it and the company's own non-GAAP loss is $20.5 million [1]. Cash and investments of $497.1 million, with no debt, buy years at this pace, not a business [1]. *Chart: **Quarterly revenue stays in the low millions while the operating loss deepens** Column chart of Rigetti's quarterly revenue and operating loss from Q4 2023 to Q3 2026* *Quarterly revenue and operating income, $ millions, from Rigetti's SEC filings, Q4 2023 through Q3 2026. [1][6]* ## Washington is now the funder and a shareholder [The $100 million Commerce Department award signed in September](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/RGTI-Q/pressreleases/4509524/rigetti-wins-major-chips-act-quantum-funding-award/) came with a condition: a minority, non-controlling stake, about 7.7 million shares issued to the Department [1][4]. The definitive agreement funds its first tranche now and holds the rest behind technical milestones, with clawback rights attached [4]. It is one of nine equity stakes Washington took across a $2 billion federal quantum portfolio [5]. The next signature that matters belongs to India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, which [ordered an $8.4 million, 108-qubit system due for delivery this half](https://www.tipranks.com/news/why-quantum-stocks-d-wave-and-rigetti-are-falling-today-and-what-wall-street-expects-next) [3]. If that system is accepted in the fourth quarter, the year lands near guidance [1]; if not, the guide goes with it, and [a market value above $4 billion stays attached to the chain rather than the quarter](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4670098-rigetti-dips-after-q3-financial-results-fall-short-of-expectations) [7]. The gap between Rigetti's lab and Rigetti's revenue is funded by shareholders and now partly owned by the taxpayer. When the 1,000-qubit machine exists, the company will have earned the market it is being lent today. ## Takeaway Rigetti hit its fidelity milestone but booked only $1.4 million of revenue against a $33.2 million operating loss, and the $20 million full-year target now depends on India's C-DAC accepting one 108-qubit system this quarter, with the Commerce Department holding about 7.7 million shares until it does. ## Sources 1. [SEC EDGAR, Rigetti Computing Form 8-K with Q3 2026 press release, 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1838359/000110465926125152/0001104659-26-125152-index.htm) 2. [24/7 Wall St., "Rigetti Computing Q3 2026: Revenue Misses Expectations, Full Year Rests on Q4", 10 November 2026](https://247wallst.com/cards/rigetti-computing-q3-2026-earnings-rgti-01m73mz4gbe9skq001603k9n31) 3. [TipRanks, "Why Quantum Stocks D-Wave and Rigetti Are Falling Today, and What Wall Street Expects Next", 10 November 2026](https://www.tipranks.com/news/why-quantum-stocks-d-wave-and-rigetti-are-falling-today-and-what-wall-street-expects-next) 4. [The Globe and Mail (TipRanks), "Rigetti Wins Major CHIPS Act Quantum Funding Award", 9 September 2026](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/RGTI-Q/pressreleases/4509524/rigetti-wins-major-chips-act-quantum-funding-award/) 5. [TechTimes, "U.S. Commerce Dept Buys Into Nine Quantum Companies: IBM, D-Wave, Rigetti Among $2B Recipients", 22 May 2026](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/317006/20260522/us-commerce-dept-buys-nine-quantum-companies-ibm-d-wave-rigetti-among-2b-recipients.htm) 6. [Rigetti, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001838359) 7. [Seeking Alpha, "Rigetti dips after Q3 financial results fall short of expectations", 10 November 2026](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4670098-rigetti-dips-after-q3-financial-results-fall-short-of-expectations) --- Rigetti's $1.4 million quarter leaves its $20 million year resting on India's C-DAC — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/rigetti-s-1-4-million-quarter-leaves-its-20-million-year-resting-on-india-s-c-dac