D-Wave Quantum stock drops as much as 36% in October amid sector retreat

Quantum computing shares slid together as a dilutive IonQ deal, a class-action suit and rising Treasury yields hit speculative tech D-Wave Quantum had a rough October. Estimates of the decline in its shares for the month range from 31% to 36%, which works out to roughly a third of the company’s market value gone in four weeks. The odd part is that D-Wave itself was mostly a bystander. As The Motley Fool framed it, the company didn’t do anything wrong, exactly. It simply happened to be standing in a sector where everyone headed for the exits at once. A sector-wide stampede D-Wave (NASDAQ: QBTS) had plenty of company on the way down. IonQ shares fell somewhere between 20% and 32% over the same stretch. Rigetti Computing slipped between 26% and 28%. The first came from IonQ. The company announced a $2 billion equity offering alongside an all-stock acquisition of Elisity. Both moves create new shares, and new shares shrink the slice of the company each existing investor owns. The second hit was aimed squarely at D-Wave. A securities class-action lawsuit was filed against the company during the month. The third factor was macro. Rising Treasury yields weighed on speculative technology n...