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A number of companies are developing quantum capabilities and the top stocks at this convergence of AI and quantum computing (QC) have a realistic opportunity of soaring in the next few years. This article provides an explanation as to what quantum computing is all about, its merits and a list of 15 major companies building quantum computers.

What is Quantum Computing?

In a nut shell, the better the computing power, and the more data, the better a model will perform and, as such, the race is on for companies to radically upgrade the computing power of their AI models. That's where "quantum computing" comes in. Check out this video on Quantum Computing: 4 Things You Need to Know.

"Classical mechanics" explain how and why things work but the discovery of the electron unveiled a new world of super-small things that has its own set of rules known as "quantum mechanics".

AI is the biggest technological paradigm shift since the internet. In the early 1990s internet stocks started outperforming all other sectors in the market – and they didn’t stop outperforming for a whole decade: a $10,000 investment in Oracle (ORCL) in 1991, for example, would have turned into $900,000 (890%) by 1999, a $10,000 investment in Cisco (CSCO) would have turned into $1.4 million (+1,390%) and a $10,000 stake in Qualcomm (QCOM) would have grown to over $1.5 million (+1,490%). The current convergence of AI and quantum computing have a realistic opportunity of experiencing the same type of returns in the next 10 years. 

Here's a list of a number of companies building quantum computers, a description of their efforts and successes and their stock performances year-to-date (YTD), market capitalizations and stock prices as of the end of July.

1. IonQ (IONQ): +419.7% YTD
   • IonQ uses trapped-ion technology in its processing units which relies on suspending ions in space using electromagnetic fields, and transmitting information through the movement of those ions in a “shared trap.”
   • IonQ currently has 2 quantum systems: an 11-qubit system launched in 2020; a 25-qubit system launched in 2022; and has a 32-qubit system under development and in beta testing with researchers.
   • Market Capitalization: $3.9B
   • Stock Price: $17.93
2. Alphabet (GOOGL): +246.8% YTD 
   • Alphabet has already built a programmable superconducting processor that is about 158 million times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer.
   • In addition, Google has also developed a quantum computing service to develop novel quantum algorithms and is continuing to push innovation in quantum computing, from hardware control systems and quantum control to physics modeling and quantum error correction.
   • Market Capitalization: $1.63T
   • Stock Price: $132.58
3. Nvidia Corporation (NVDA): +219.9% YTD
   • Nvidia has introduced the CUDA Quantum, a platform to construct quantum algorithms by employing widely known classical computer coding languages which have the ability to choose whether to run the algorithm on a classical computer or quantum computing based on efficiency.
   • In addition, NVDA is the leading designer of graphics processing units required for powerful computer processing.
   • Market Capitalization: $1.16T
   • Stock Price: $467.50
4. Rigetti Computing (RGTI): +201.4%
   • Rigetti is an integrated systems company that builds quantum computers and superconducting quantum processors.
   •  Rigetti is currently developing a new 84-qubit processor with plans to put four of these processors together to form a 336-qubit machine with plans to build an even larger machine that can support 1,000 qubits in 2025 and one with 4,000 qubits in 2027.
   • Market Capitalization: $422M
   • Stock Price: $2.20
5. Intel (INTC): +80.3% YTD
   •  Intel has constructed a 49 qubit superconducting chip.
   • In addition, Intel has developed a testing tool for quantum computers which allows researchers to validate quantum wafers and check that qubits are working correctly before they’re constructed into a full quantum processor.
   • Market Capitalization: $1.54T
   • Stock Price: $36.83
6. Amazon (AMZN): +57.4% YTD
   • Amazon has partnered with the California Institute of Technology to foster the next generation of quantum scientists and fuel their efforts to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.
   • In addition, Amazon offers a quantum computing service which provides developers access to quantum computers and tools from third-party partners enabling customers to speed up their own quantum computing research, build quantum projects and run quantum algorithms.
   • Market Capitalization: $1.37T
   • Stock Price: $132.21
7. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS): +45.8% YTD
   • D-Wave was the world's first organization to sell a commercial quantum computer (to Lockheed Martin back in 2011) using a process called quantum annealing and has recently entered a multi-year agreement with Lockheed Martin to upgrade its quantum computer system with 1,000+ qubits.
   • In addition, the company offers a cloud-based full stack of systems to enable enterprises, government agencies, national laboratories and academic organizations to build quantum applications.
   • Market Capitalization: $267M
   • Stock Price: $2.10
8. Infineon Technologies (IFNNY): +43.6% YTD
   • Infineon, a leading developer of quantum computing hardware, plans to develop trapped ion Quantum Processor Units (QPUs) for scalable quantum computers.
   • In addition, the company is also active in superconducting and semiconductor-based qubits.
   • Market Capitalization: $56B
   • Stock Price: $43.30
9. Microsoft (MSFT): +41.1% YTD
   • Microsoft is developing its own scalable, full-stack quantum machine using a proprietary control chip and a cryo-compute core that work together to maintain a stable cold environment enabling the quantum stack to send and receive information to and from every qubit (i.e. quantum bits of electrical or optical pulses representing zero and/or one with the flexibility of performing many calculations simultaneously).
   •  In addition, Microsoft offers a portfolio of quantum computers from other hardware providers as a service to provide an open development environment for researchers, businesses and developers that enables the flexibility to tune algorithms and explore today's quantum systems.
   • Market Capitalization: $2.51T
   • Stock Price: $338.37
10. Baidu (BIDU): +35.9% YTD
    • Baidu, a Beijing-based Chinese search engine giant, has developed a quantum computer with a 10-quantum-bit (qubit) processor and has made it available to external users.
    • In addition, Baidu has developed a 36-qubit quantum chip.
    • Market Capitalization: $53.6B
    • Stock Price: $155.36
11. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): +35.4% YTD
    • TSM is one of the top semiconductor companies in the world and plans to use its new cloud computing platform to develop quantum computing applications.
    • Market Capitalization: $469B
    • Stock Price: $100.86
12. Alibaba Group (BABA): +14.1% YTD
    • Alibaba is a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate investing heavily in quantum computing research and building its quantum computing chip which is based on superconducting qubit technology.
    • Market Capitalization: $255B
    • Stock Price: $100.55
13. IBM (IBM): +1.8% YTD
    • IBM plans to develop a multichip processor that is 860% faster than its current fastest processor by 2025 and have its quantum computers commercialized within five years.
    • In addition, IBM runs a suite of cloud-based quantum systems for users to develop, test and run quantum projects.
    • Market Capitalization: $130B
    • Stock Price: $143.45
14. Quantum Computing (QUBT): -6.0% YTD
    • Quantum offers an affordable cloud-based service that enables end users to solve problems on quantum systems without requiring complex programming knowledge.
    • QCI is also currently developing new quantum computing chip capabilities.
    • Market Capitalization: $87M
    • Stock Price: $1.42
15. Honeywell International (HON): -9.8%
    • Honeywell owns Quantinuum which builds quantum hardware based on trapped-ion technologies.
    • Honeywell's quantum computer pairs with Cambridge Quantum's software package to solve complex problems across industries and has achieved the highest quantum volume measurement - 32,768 - in the history of quantum computing.
    • Market Capitalization: $129B
    • Stock Price: $195.19

The above 15 stocks were up 49.1% as of the end of July so there could well be considerable room to run in the months and years to come.

To take full advantage of what is coming down the pike consider investing in one or more of the stocks highlighted in this article. Naturally, it is imperative that you do your own due diligence before making a decision to do so as my comments are not a recommendation, per se. I hope this article has made you aware of the opportunities.

You also might want to consider investing in the Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) which provides exposure to companies on the forefront of machine learning, quantum computing, cloud computing, and other transformative computing technologies. It consists of 71 such stocks and is up 35.2% YTD.

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