D-Wave Surges 20% as Quantum Computing Heads to CES
The quantum computing pioneer announces plans to showcase commercial applications at CES 2026, sending shares to 52-week highs as investors bet on real-world adoption.
Quantum computing is ready for its mainstream moment.
D-Wave Quantum jumped nearly 20% Monday after announcing it will showcase commercial quantum applications at CES 2026. The stock closed at $32.10, hitting 52-week highs as investors bet that real-world use cases can finally sustain institutional interest.
The CES appearance marks a pivot from laboratory curiosity to business tool.
The CES Strategy
D-Wave will sponsor the CES Foundry, a two-day event at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas on January 7-8. The company plans to demonstrate its annealing quantum computing technology, hybrid quantum-classical solvers, and actual customer implementations.
The focus is practical: manufacturing optimization, supply chain logistics, materials science, and telecommunications. These aren't research projects—they're deployed solutions showing measurable performance advantages over classical computing.
Murray Thom, D-Wave's VP of Quantum Technology Evangelism, will present a masterclass on how businesses can leverage quantum computing today. The emphasis on "today" is deliberate.
Why It Matters
D-Wave differentiates itself by being operational rather than theoretical. The company's Advantage2 quantum annealing system is commercially available through cloud services or on-site installation. More than 100 organizations use D-Wave systems, with over 200 million problems submitted to date.
The CES showcase is designed to convert skeptics. Quantum computing has suffered from a perception problem—always promising, never delivering. D-Wave's bet is that seeing real applications in action changes minds faster than white papers.
Wall Street Takes Notice
Analysts have turned bullish. Jefferies and Wedbush both initiated coverage recently with buy ratings. The thesis: D-Wave's head start in commercial quantum could translate to durable competitive advantages as the market matures.
The quantum computing sector has been volatile, but D-Wave's focus on near-term commercialization rather than distant breakthroughs resonates with investors looking for tangible milestones.
The Bigger Picture
CES 2026 won't prove quantum computing has arrived. But D-Wave's presence alongside traditional tech showcases signals that the technology is leaving the physics lab and entering the business mainstream.
For a company that's been called the "world's first commercial supplier of quantum computers," proving that claim at the world's biggest tech show is the logical next step.