💥 The quantum crash
Recent comments by Nvidia's Jensen Huang triggered a slump in quantum computing stocks, but Australian startups aren't too fussed.
If you spent December staring at the finish line rather than the NASDAQ, you probably didn't notice that quantum computing stocks were booming.
After Google on 9 December unveiled an impressive new quantum chip, some investors evidently took it as a sign that the quantum age was upon us. Rigetti, a Californian developer of both quantum hardware and software, embodied the euphoria: its market value boomed over 500%. Australia’s own Archer Materials doubled in two weeks.
Alas, what Big Tech giveth, Big Tech taketh away.
Nvidia founder and Wall Street rockstar Jensen Huang was last week asked about quantum computing and answered that the tech is still around 20 years away. Days later, Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan his read is that quantum is still “a decade out.”
These mild comments were enough to do wild damage to quantum stocks. Even after its shares rocketed overnight, Rigetti is still down 54% over the past week, as is D-Wave. Others like IONQ and Quantum Computing Inc have suffered similarly precipitous falls. The ASX’s Archer Materials has taken a 22% hit.
