RGTI vs QCOM Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Rigetti Computing is a speculative, pre-commercial quantum computing developer with minimal revenue and high share price volatility, while Qualcomm is an established, profitable semiconductor leader with diversified revenue across mobile, automotive, and IoT markets plus a durable licensing business. Rigetti offers optionality on quantum computing eventually reaching commercial scale, while Qualcomm offers steady cash flow and dividends from a proven chip and licensing franchise. The choice depends on whether an investor wants highly speculative quantum computing exposure or established semiconductor cash flow.
Use this comparison to weigh highly speculative, pre-revenue quantum computing exposure (Rigetti) against an established, profitable, diversified semiconductor and licensing business (Qualcomm).
QCOM holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. QCOM leads on both 1-year return (+6.07%) and forward P/E quality (16.09x vs -76.02x for RGTI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, RGTI is growing revenue faster (185.30%), while QCOM maintains the higher operating margin (18.53%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for RGTI (+83.99%) than for QCOM (+17.61%).
- Want highly speculative, early-stage exposure to quantum computing hardware development
- Are comfortable with pre-revenue risk and reliance on external funding
- Believe government and research partnerships will help fund a long development runway
- Can tolerate extreme share price volatility
- Want established, profitable semiconductor exposure with dividend income
- Value diversification beyond smartphones into automotive and edge AI/IoT
- Prefer a durable, high-margin patent licensing revenue stream
- Are comfortable with mobile chip cyclicality as a known, manageable risk
| Metric | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 37.7 | 49.8 |
| AI rank | #1330 | #470 |
| Latest close | $15.66 | $170.48 |
| 1M return | +4.75% | +15.49% |
| 6M return | -10.10% | +20.88% |
| 1Y return | -3.51% | +6.07% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.09K (+0.9%) started 2025-09-02 | $10.74K (+7.4%) started 2025-09-02 |
| 5Y ago | $16.17K (+61.7%) started 2021-08-31 | $13.67K (+36.7%) started 2021-09-01 |
| 10Y ago | $15.82K (+58.2%) started 2021-04-22 | $44.44K (+344.4%) started 2016-09-01 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $5.23B | $175.36B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | 18.76 |
| Forward P/E | -76.02 | 16.09 |
| Price/Sales | 391.43 | 3.88 |
| EV/Revenue | 360.78 | 4.07 |
| Analyst target | $28.81 | $193.10 |
| Target upside | +83.99% | +17.61% |
| Metric | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 185.30% | -4.00% |
| Earnings growth | N/A | -23.00% |
| EPS growth | N/A | -23.00% |
| FCF margin | +198.11% | +23.24% |
| Operating margin | -546.17% | 18.53% |
| Profit margin | 0.00% | 21.01% |
| ROIC proxy | -43.77% | 33.75% |
| Return on equity | -43.77% | 33.75% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 2.23% |
| Beta | 2.02 | 1.66 |
| Debt/equity | 1.43 | 55.21 |
| Current ratio | 3.94 | 2.02 |
| Quick ratio | 3.78 | 1.14 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +0.90% | +7.37% |
| CAGR | +0.91% | +7.41% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.48 | 0.31 | |
| Max drawdown | 77.10% | 41.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 14.86% | 11.46% | |
| Max wkly drop | 36.00% | 23.52% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +61.69% | +25.66% |
| CAGR | +10.09% | +4.67% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.66 | 0.21 | |
| Max drawdown | 96.89% | 44.50% | |
| Max daily drop | 45.41% | 11.46% | |
| Max wkly drop | 68.19% | 23.52% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +58.18% | +240.65% |
| CAGR | +8.94% | +13.04% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.63 | 0.39 | |
| Max drawdown | 96.89% | 44.50% | |
| Max daily drop | 45.41% | 14.95% | |
| Max wkly drop | 68.19% | 23.52% |
| Category | RGTI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Rigetti Computing, Inc. | QUALCOMM Incorporated |
| Sector | Technology / Quantum Computing | Technology |
| Industry | N/A | Semiconductors |
| Core business | Rigetti designs and builds superconducting gate-model quantum computers and provides cloud access to its quantum processors for research and early commercial applications. | Qualcomm designs and licenses wireless communication chips and technology, powering smartphones, automotive systems, and an expanding line of edge AI and Internet of Things products. |
| Investor focus | Investors watch qubit count and quality milestones, government contract and grant progress, and cash runway relative to ongoing operating losses. | Investors focus on smartphone chip demand trends, growth in automotive and IoT diversification revenue, and the durability of Qualcomm's patent licensing business. |
- Active government partnership interest, including a proposed CHIPS Act-related award, supports its domestic quantum computing positioning
- Technical progress on gate-model quantum processors keeps it relevant among leading quantum computing developers
- Growing analyst coverage initiations reflect increasing institutional attention on the sector
- Diversified revenue increasingly extending beyond smartphones into automotive and edge AI/IoT markets
- Established patent licensing business generates high-margin, recurring royalty income
- Strong balance sheet and consistent free cash flow support dividends and buybacks
- Pre-commercial-scale revenue with ongoing net losses and reliance on external funding
- Quantum computing remains a nascent field with an uncertain timeline to broad commercial adoption
- Extreme share price volatility tied to sector sentiment rather than underlying fundamentals
- Still meaningfully dependent on smartphone chip cyclicality and a concentrated set of large device customers
- Faces long-term competitive and customer-concentration risk as some large customers develop in-house chips
- Diversification into automotive and IoT remains a smaller share of revenue relative to mobile
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