3 Quantum Computing Stocks With the Most Upside in August

Quantum computing pure-plays remain the market’s most polarizing bet: pre-profit, richly valued, and levered to policy tailwinds that keep tightening. After the White House quantum executive orders issued June 22, 2026 designated computing, sensing, networking, and cybersecurity as national priorities, the sector caught a fresh bid. All three of the names below rallied hard in the past month, yet Wall Street’s price targets still imply meaningful room to run. Ranked by analyst-implied upside from current levels, here is how the trio stacks up heading into the back half of August.

One caveat up front: these are aggressive speculative positions. Beta readings for all three sit north of 2, and each carries negative forward EPS. Treat the upside math as a probability-weighted range, not a promise.

1. Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) leads the pack on implied upside. Shares closed at $18.67 on August 17, 2026, and the analyst target of $28.81, with 69% bullish sentiment and nine buy or strong-buy ratings, points to base-case upside of roughly 81.4%. That gap has widened as the stock lagged peers, sliding 15.71% year-to-date even after a 32.32% one-month rebound.

The bull case is government-backed. Rigetti signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100 million in potential CHIPS Act funding over three years, a validation of its superconducting chiplet architecture. Q2 revenue rose to $5.14 million, up 185.3% year over year, and the company holds $541.29 million in cash with zero debt. CEO Subodh Kulkarni frames the trajectory clearly: "Our objective remains to reach approximately 1,000 qubits, two qubit gate fidelities of 99.9% and gate speeds below 40 nanoseconds in roughly three years."