Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Stock Price Up 11.5% – Still a Buy?

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)’s stock price traded up 11.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $17.39 and last traded at $16.87. 56,423,641 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 94% from the average session volume of 29,155,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RGTI. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Rigetti Computing from $51.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of Rigetti Computing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Rigetti Computing from $50.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.70.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.81 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.10.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 3,111.92% and a negative return on equity of 14.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total value of $643,316.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 651,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,421,533.28. This trade represents a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $74,810.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 175,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,076,669.68. This trade represents a 2.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rigetti Computing

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 106.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after buying an additional 113,644 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 138.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 81,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 47,115 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 25.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 112,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 22,770 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Rigetti Computing by 197.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 16,998 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new position in Rigetti Computing in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.38% of the company’s stock.

About Rigetti Computing

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.