D-Wave Quantum ended September with $503.4 million of cash and marketable securities, according to the third-quarter results it filed with the SEC on 10 November. Its operating activities used $109.0 million in the first nine months of 2026, or about $36.3 million a quarter. At that pace, the balance would cover about 14 quarters, by our arithmetic.
The balance was $884.5 million at the end of 2025. Most of the $381.1 million drop, $252.8 million, paid for the acquisition of Quantum Circuits, net of cash acquired.
Business Pill · Run-Rate Revenue
An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on run-rate and recurring revenue. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss D-Wave.
The key insight: D-Wave held $503.4 million of cash and marketable securities at 30 September, against $109.0 million of operating cash use in the first nine months of 2026. Quarterly revenue was $4.5 million and GAAP operating expenses were $55.9 million.
Revenue was $4.5 million, up 21% from $3.7 million a year earlier. Professional services revenue rose by $1.5 million and quantum computing as a service revenue by $0.8 million, while system sales fell by $1.5 million. Wall St Engine cited a consensus estimate of $4.3 million for revenue and a loss of $0.14 a share; D-Wave reported a net loss of $48.2 million, or $0.13 a share.
GAAP gross margin was 52.9%, against 71.4% a year earlier. D-Wave says the decline was “due primarily to a revenue mix with a higher proportion of professional services revenue that carries a lower margin”.
Bookings in the quarter were $1.9 million, down 19%. For the first nine months, bookings were $37.4 million, up 611%. Remaining performance obligations were $38.3 million at 30 September, up from $2.9 million, and D-Wave expects about 59% of that balance to become revenue within 12 months. It recognised revenue from more than 100 customers, 48% of them commercial enterprises.
Two-thirds of the $381.1 million fall in D-Wave’s cash and securities this year paid for Quantum Circuits. Source: D-Wave Q3 2026 results (Form 8-K Ex. 99.1), 10 Nov 2026; shares and the runway are our arithmetic.
Wall St Engine posted this summary of D-Wave’s third-quarter results at 12:05 UTC on 10 November, including consensus estimates of $4.3 million for revenue and a loss of $0.14 a share. This piece uses the post for those estimates only; every D-Wave figure above comes from the company’s SEC filing.
Where the Money Goes
GAAP operating expenses were $55.9 million, up 84%. Research and development rose to $31.5 million from $14.1 million. By our arithmetic, the company spent about $12.40 of operating expenses for each $1 of revenue in the quarter.
The adjusted EBITDA loss was $37.7 million, up 83%, which D-Wave attributes to “increased operating expenses to support the Company’s accelerated product development and go-to-market initiatives”. The year-earlier net loss of $140.0 million included a $121.9 million non-cash charge on warrants; D-Wave says all of its remaining publicly traded warrants were redeemed in November 2025.
The cash flow statement shows no proceeds from at-the-market share sales in the first nine months of 2026, against $536.7 million in the same period of 2025. The balance sheet also carries a $100.0 million line for “Uncollected equity issuance proceeds”, deducted from stockholders’ equity.
The Government Line
D-Wave signed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for access to up to $100 million of CHIPS and Science Act funding, “in installments upon satisfying specified milestones and conditions”. The release says the money is intended to support a 100,000-qubit annealing computer and a 10,000-qubit gate-model computer designed to enable 100 logical qubits.
Customer items in the release include a second production application at NTT DOCOMO, which D-Wave says reduced daily peak location registration signals by 65.3%, and the delivery of a 4,400+ qubit Advantage2 system for installation in Como, Italy.
The Structural Read
As we read the cash flow statement, the large fall in D-Wave’s balance this year came from one acquisition: $252.8 million for Quantum Circuits, about two-thirds of the $381.1 million drop, by our arithmetic.
As we read the backlog figures, revenue and orders are on different clocks: quarterly bookings fell 19% to $1.9 million, while remaining performance obligations rose to $38.3 million, of which D-Wave expects about 59% to become revenue within 12 months.
Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, 10 November 2026
“Our triple-digit increase in year-to-date bookings and robust pipeline reinforce our confidence in the opportunity ahead”
Three Implications
FOR CASH D-Wave reports no at-the-market share sales in the first nine months of 2026, after $536.7 million in the same period of 2025.
FOR FUNDING The CHIPS and Science Act agreement gives access to up to $100 million in installments tied to specified milestones and conditions.
FOR MARGINS D-Wave says a higher share of lower-margin professional services revenue cut GAAP gross margin to 52.9% from 71.4%.
What Is Not Established
The runway figure is our arithmetic on nine months of operating cash use; it does not include the CHIPS funding, capital spending, acquisitions or any new financing, and D-Wave does not give a cash outlook in the release. The release does not explain the $100.0 million of uncollected equity issuance proceeds. The 10-Q had not been filed when this piece was written, and the conference call was not reviewed.
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D-Wave holds $503.4 million against operating cash use of about $36.3 million a quarter, roughly 14 quarters at the nine-month pace, by our arithmetic. Two-thirds of this year’s $381.1 million drop in cash and securities paid for Quantum Circuits, and quarterly revenue of $4.5 million covered about 8% of operating expenses.
A note on sourcing. Results, cash and bookings figures are from D-Wave’s Form 8-K results exhibit of 10 November 2026. Consensus estimates are as cited by Wall St Engine. The runway, shares and ratios not stated by D-Wave are our arithmetic.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
