When I wrote to you last week about parts of the market being overhyped and valuations pumped up, I was referring to several areas of technology, ranging from robotics to AI to quantum computing.
There are plenty of great companies in the mix that are undervalued and underappreciated, but plenty more that were absolutely overcooked…
At least they were.
We saw a pullback ranging from 15% through to around 40% for some of those stocks.
Still inflated, but not as difficult to stomach for now.
And boy, the quantum computing market was a prime candidate for that pullback. And pullback it did. IonQ was down about 38% from its top, Rigetti down 40% and D-Wave down 44%.
And it seemed like maybe that quantum’s 2025 time in the sun was done…
Enter the Trump administration and Google.
Frothy Highs to Fresh FOMO
This week, Google announced that researchers had successfully run a verifiable quantum algorithm called Quantum Echoes on its 105qubit Willow chip.
Google said,
Quantum Echoes can be useful in learning the structure of systems in nature, from molecules to magnets to black holes, and we’ve demonstrated it runs 13,000 times faster on Willow than the best classical algorithm on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
It’s a massive deal and a significant leap towards useful quantum computing.
Just where could we go when it comes to the potential of quantum computing? Well, there is no ceiling.
Expectations are that useful quantum computing will help in everything from our understanding of nature and space, through to drug discovery, materials science and even how quantum computers themselves work.
What this announcement also does is vindicate the research and innovation happening in this space. When a $1 billion upstart quantum player says this is all the potential that we can deliver, there’s a healthy dose of scepticism the market brings to that.
But when the $3 trillion tech, innovation, research and development giant in Google says it, well, it’s taken a little more seriously.
This says to the market, actually, maybe these quantum thingys do have real potential.
We know they do, but now so does the wider market.
Google’s developments helped the market along, but when you combine that with what the Trump administration is planning, then it looks like quantum might just be back on the agenda and those highs we saw a few weeks ago might just be a stepping stone…
Concurrently, as Google was dropping is quantum announcement, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was exploring equity stakes in several American quantum computing companies.
Even though the U.S. Commerce Department told the WSJ that it was not currently negotiating with the firms, coupled with Google’s development, quantum stocks took off.
D-Wave was up 13% for the day, IonQ peaked 13% higher, and Rigetti too closed 14% higher.
It’s expected the government will also consider dishing out some awards starting at $10 million and that companies such as DWave, IonQ and Rigetti were in line for these funding opportunities.
Now with this in the mix, it’s looking like a healthy dose of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is getting injected back into the market.
We must not forget, in the quantum space many of the listed companies are still prerevenue or earlyrevenue. They burn cash building hardware and have no nearterm prospect of profits.
Yet the combination of sci‑fi-esque breakthroughs and rumours of government backing creates a speculator’s paradise.
Volatility over Valuation
For long-term investors, the fundamentals of quantum computing remain speculative.
And it would make sense if you’ve got a multi-year (or decade) strategy then smart speculation in the underlying stocks is a decent move, managing capital, risk and investing over time of course.
But there’s also a smart way to play these moves without breaking the bank, taking on a bunch of asymmetric risk, and still funding your long-term strategies.
I’ve written about it a bit this week already, but it makes sense to look at the options market for these things.
I’ll give you an example…
While Rigetti stock was up 14% in trading, it’s call options were not… they were up much higher.
The Rigetti November 21, 2025, calls at a $41 strike price were up 62% in trading for the day. They had closed at $3.52 on Wednesday, opened at $6.33 on Thursday and even hit a high of $7.45 in intraday trading.
When news catalysts and rumours whip a tiny group of highly volatile stocks into 10–20 % moves in a single session, options markets scream higher.
By structuring option trades that benefit from sharp swings rather than directional bets, it’s possible to turn market froth into opportunity.
And we’ve seen this play out in real time with D-Wave in the last couple of months. In True Alpha, readers captured 889% returns in about eight weeks by leveraging volatility off the quantum hype.
With Google’s landmark algorithm and the administration’s flirtations with equity stakes reviving animal spirits, there may be another chance to dip back into that well. Make sure to keep an eye out for more on that next week.
What’s very clear to me is that quantum computing is inching toward reality and delivering spectacular headlines.
That will come with wild runs higher in quantum stocks and brutal pullbacks. Long term I think it’s a transformational technology. I’ve been covering it for years and nothing has convinced me yet that our future won’t have quantum computing at the core of scientific discovery, invention and innovation.
Google’s Quantum Echoes algorithm proves that verifiable beyond‑classical computations are more than theory.
Washington’s interest, even if currently denied, shows that the technology is seen as strategically important.
And investors should consider that while long term speculative plays are what I would consider to be an important part of a healthy (and fun) portfolio, there’s also other ways to profit from these plays in the not-so-classical investment way too.
Until next time,
Sam Volkering
Contributing Editor, Investor’s Daily
