Rigetti Computing has announced its Q1 2025 financial results. A summary of key financial metrics comparing Q1 2025 with Q4 2024 and the year-ago quarter of Q1 2024 is shown in the chart below.
| Amounts in $M | Q1’2025 | Q4’2024 | Q1’2024 | % vs Q4’2024 | % vs Q1’2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.5 | $2.3 | $3.1 | -36.0% | -52.5% |
| Operating Expenses | $22.1 | $19.5 | $18.1 | +13.2% | +22.0% |
| Operating Loss | ($21.6) | ($18.5) | ($16.6) | +16.9% | +30.3% |
| Net Loss | ($42.6) | ($153.0) | ($20.8) | -72.1% | +104.9% |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Investments | $209.1 | $217.2 | $102.8 | -3.7% | +103.4% |
Financial Overview
Rigetti reported $1.5 million in revenue for Q1 2025, marking a 36% decline from the previous quarter and a 52.5% year-over-year drop. This continues the downward trend in topline performance and reflects the company’s ongoing reliance on a small number of project-based contracts. Operating expenses rose to $22.1 million, up 13.2% from Q4 2024 and 22.0% from Q1 2024, driven by higher R&D expenditures.
The operating loss widened to $21.6 million, while the net loss was reported at $42.6 million. Although narrower than the $153.0 million loss in Q4 — which included larger one-time accounting charges — this quarter’s loss still reflects a significant deterioration from Q1 2024. As of March 31, cash and investments stood at $209.1 million, slightly down from the prior quarter but more than double the year-ago level, bolstered by strategic equity funding.
Government Awards and Quantum R&D Initiatives
Rigetti was selected for Stage A of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, under a six-month, milestone-driven performance contract worth up to $1 million. The company will use this opportunity to further its concept of a Utility-Scale Quantum Computer (USQC), combining a multi-chip modular architecture with scalable quantum error correction (QEC). Rigetti will collaborate with Riverlane, a longtime QEC partner.
Additionally, Rigetti was granted a $5.48 million AFOSR award to explore its Alternating-Bias Assisted Annealing (ABAA) fabrication technique, which may improve qubit quality by addressing micro-level defects. Partners include Iowa State, RMIT, University of Connecticut, and Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
In the UK, Rigetti received three Innovate UK Quantum Missions pilot awards, including:
- Upgrading the NQCC-hosted QPU from 24 to 36 qubits with a new control stack.
- A joint program with SEEQC to integrate digital chip-based control with Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU.
- A collaborative testbed initiative with TreQ, Qruise, Q-CTRL, and Oxford Ionics to define an open specification for quantum workflow interfaces.
Technical Developments
Rigetti published a Nature Physics article with Harvard, MIT, and the University of Chicago demonstrating coherent control of a superconducting qubit using optical signals. This hybrid microwave-optical system eliminates coaxial lines and may reduce thermal load, offering a potential path to higher qubit density.
The company also applied a novel quantum preconditioning algorithm on its 84-qubit Ankaa-3 system to solve a power grid optimization task using real energy data. The approach demonstrated a quantum-enhanced performance boost to classical solvers, showing progress toward real-world utility for hybrid quantum algorithms.
Strategic Investment and Outlook
On April 29, Rigetti closed a $35 million equity investment from Quanta Computer, part of a broader strategic collaboration. This brought the company’s cash and investments to $237.7 million by the end of April, extending runway for continued R&D and future product milestones.
Despite encouraging technical milestones and strong participation in public-sector R&D programs, the company’s low and shrinking revenue base underlines the difficulty of commercializing quantum services at scale. The reported net loss also highlights the continued cost burden of maintaining in-house fabrication and multi-disciplinary hardware-software integration efforts.
A press release from Rigetti announcing its Q1 2025 financial results is available here, and the company’s webcast and investor presentation can be accessed via the Rigetti IR page.
May 13, 2025
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