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Investing.com - Mizuho initiated coverage on Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) with an Outperform rating and a $50.00 price target on Thursday, implying approximately 87% upside potential.
The investment firm cited Rigetti’s scaling capabilities as a key factor in its positive outlook, noting the company’s target of achieving 150+ qubits by the end of 2026 and over 1,000 qubits by the end of 2027, with 99.8% two-qubit gate fidelity.
Mizuho highlighted Rigetti’s strong financial position, pointing to more than $450 million in cash, equivalents, and investments on hand, which could potentially sustain operations beyond 2030.
The $50 price target represents 11 times the firm’s fiscal 2030 estimated price-to-sales ratio, reflecting approximately a 20% discount to Mizuho’s discounted cash flow valuation.
Mizuho positioned Rigetti as the closest scalable superconducting quantum computing peer to industry giants IBM and Google in the quantum computing space. For context, IBM (NYSE:IBM) currently boasts a substantial market cap of $292.26 billion, with its stock trading near its 52-week high at $312.67 and delivering an impressive 45.91% return year-to-date. InvestingPro data shows IBM maintains a "GOOD" overall financial health score, providing valuable perspective for investors tracking both established players and emerging companies in the quantum computing sector. Pro Research Reports covering IBM and 1,400+ other top stocks are available exclusively on InvestingPro.
In other recent news, IBM has announced plans to acquire Confluent for $31 per share in cash, valuing the deal at approximately $11 billion. This acquisition is expected to close by mid-2026, pending regulatory approvals. Analysts have weighed in on the transaction, with UBS maintaining a Sell rating on IBM, citing the deal as potentially dilutive. UBS projects that the acquisition could contribute about $1.6 billion in software revenue by 2027, adding to IBM’s revenue growth. Stifel, on the other hand, has raised its price target for IBM to $325, maintaining a Buy rating due to the acquisition, which it values at a 34% premium to Confluent’s recent closing price.
Additionally, S&P Global Ratings has revised IBM’s outlook to negative, anticipating that the acquisition will keep the company’s leverage at approximately 2.5x in fiscal 2026. Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating, with a price target of $315, in light of the acquisition news. Bernstein SocGen Group also maintained its Market Perform rating on IBM with a price target of $280. These developments reflect varied analyst perspectives on IBM’s strategic move to expand its software offerings through the acquisition of Confluent.
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