Why Did D-Wave Quantum Stock Fall 16.6% This Week?

Why Did D-Wave Quantum Stock Fall 16.6% This Week?

Johnny Rice, The Motley Fool

Sat, August 29, 2026 at 12:57 AM GMT+3 3 min read

D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ: QBTS) stock fell this week, finishing down 16.6% by the market's close on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, following the company's announcement that a key C-suite executive would be departing.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up this week, gaining 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively.

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D-Wave CFO John Markovich to retire Sept. 2, replaced by Greg Golkov

On Tuesday, Aug. 25, D-Wave announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) John Markovich is retiring, effective Sept. 2, 2026. He will be replaced by Greg Golkov, the company's senior vice president of finance.

CEO Alan Baratz thanked Markovich for his "significant contributions," including the "pivotal role" he played in helping take D-Wave public in 2022.

The company said the resignation wasn't the result of any disagreements "on any matter related to the Company's business, operations, accounting policies, practices, financial statements, disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting."

Despite the disclaimer, the sudden announcement of his unusually quick departure spooked investors.

D-Wave's operating loss doubled to $54.7 million in Q2 2026

That's especially true because it comes on the heels of a less-than-stellar earnings report. D-Wave's Q2 sales were flat year over year, coming in once again just above $3 million. At the same time, however, its operating loss more than doubled from negative $26.5 million to negative $54.7 million.

This is a stock with an enormous amount of very uncertain growth baked in. I would avoid D-Wave stock.

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Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why Did D-Wave Quantum Stock Fall 16.6% This Week? was originally published by The Motley Fool