A Contrarian’s Whimsy: Quantum Stocks and Societal Follies 🎭

by

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a rising stock in possession of a novel technology must be in want of a skeptic. Thus might one regard D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) stock’s 6% ascent on Tuesday-a movement met with no small degree of market approbation, though its cause lay not in ledgers or laboratories, but in the pages of a certain glossy periodical. To be named among Fast Company‘s “Next Big Things” is, it seems, the modern equivalent of a royal warrant: a seal of approval that sends ripples through the vulgar crowd of investors, though whether such ripples indicate depth or mere surface agitation remains an open question.

The Social Order of Innovation

The list in question, a sprawling assemblage of 137 firms spanning niches from artificial intelligence to “next-generation transportation solutions,” might be likened to a country ball where tech’s most eligible bachelors and bluest-stockinged spinsters vie for advantageous matches. D-Wave, ensconced in the quantum computing wing, was praised for “showing what quantum computing can do right now”-a phrase that carries the faintest whiff of condescension, as though the industry’s dowagers had at last deigned to acknowledge a previously gauche debutante.

The magazine’s particular admiration centered on D-Wave’s Advantage2 computer, a machine distinguished by its “annealing” technology. One might imagine this as the tech equivalent of a well-tailored coat-less ostentatious than the “gate model” designs of rivals, yet possessing a quiet elegance that wins favor among discerning clients such as defense contractor Davidson Technologies. Whether such elegance translates to market dominance, however, is a matter for cooler heads (and shorter time horizons) to judge.

Loading widget...

Advantage or Delusion?

Ceasing not to puff its own accomplishments, D-Wave quoted CEO Alan Baratz as declaring the recognition “a well-earned testament” to their “relentless delivery of production-ready quantum computing technology.” The phrase “production-ready” here invites scrutiny, much as a maiden’s claim of “accomplished” might prompt whispers about the true extent of her pianoforte proficiency. For what is a quantum computer in a client’s hands but a marriage of convenience-one that may yet end in scandal should reality fail to match the courtship’s glow?

And thus, while the S&P 500 crept upward by a demure 0.3%, D-Wave’s shareholders danced a quadrille of speculation. Yet let us not forget, dear reader: every bubble begins with a chorus of “this time ’tis different,” and every crash ends with a chorus of “we were fools.”

Read More

2025-10-15 03:03