Why Is D-Wave Quantum Stock Up? New $20M Contract and Military Collaboration

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) shares surged in premarket trading on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, climbing more than 7% to $24.91 (as of 8:01 AM EST) after closing at $23.75 the previous day. The quantum computing company announced three major developments that signal accelerating commercial adoption and strategic expansion.

The announcements include a $20 million purchase agreement with Florida Atlantic University, the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Florida, and a new defense collaboration with Anduril Industries and Davidson Technologies to develop quantum applications for U.S. air and missile defense systems.

Florida Atlantic University Partnership and Headquarters Move

D-Wave announced that Florida Atlantic University signed a $20 million agreement to purchase and install an Advantage2 annealing quantum computer at its Boca Raton campus, with deployment expected later in 2026. This marks one of the largest academic quantum computing investments and positions FAU as what the university’s President Adam Hasner called “Florida’s Quantum Computing University.”

The agreement includes plans for a D-Wave Quantum Applications Academy at FAU to advance quantum computing education, research, and workforce development initiatives.

Separately, D-Wave revealed it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California to the Boca Raton Innovation Center before the end of 2026. The new facility will serve as a key U.S. research and development hub focused on advancing the company’s annealing quantum system roadmap, with core R&D, testing, and support functions.

CEO Dr. Alan Baratz emphasized that Florida’s growing technology ecosystem, skilled talent pool, and spirit of innovation made it an ideal location for the company’s expansion, while also providing bicoastal presence for system redundancy and disaster recovery.

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Military Collaboration Showcases Real-World Quantum Applications

D-Wave also announced a collaboration with defense technology firms Anduril Industries and Davidson Technologies to develop quantum-classical hybrid applications for complex U.S. air and missile defense planning challenges.

An initial proof-of-concept project demonstrated significant performance advantages, with D-Wave’s Stride hybrid solver running on the Advantage2 system delivering at least 10x faster time-to-solution compared to classical-only methods. The quantum approach also showed a 9% to 12% improvement in threat mitigation and the ability to intercept an additional 45-60 missiles in a simulated 500-missile attack scenario.

The three companies plan to expand their collaboration to explore other large-scale defense optimization challenges, including contested logistics, distributed manufacturing, cyber defense, and courses of action generation. Matthew Steckman, president and chief business officer at Anduril, noted that the partnership focuses on “pressure-testing” quantum technology against real defense problems before delivering capabilities to warfighters.

This defense collaboration adds to D-Wave’s growing list of government and commercial applications, reinforcing the company’s position as a leader in practical quantum computing deployments.

QBTS Shares Rebound as Adoption and Partnerships Expand

D-Wave Quantum stock has experienced remarkable volatility and growth over the past year, with shares up 289.98% over the trailing 12 months despite recent pullbacks. The stock closed at $23.75 on January 26, 2026, down 7.34% from the previous session, before rebounding 4.97% to $24.91 in premarket trading on January 27.

The company’s market capitalization stands at approximately $8.85 billion, though the stock remains unprofitable with a negative EPS of -$1.44 and no trailing P/E ratio.

Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with an average price target of $38.70 and recommendations weighted toward “Buy” ratings. The stock’s 52-week range spans from $4.45 to $46.75, reflecting the extreme investor interest in quantum computing stocks throughout 2025.

D-Wave distinguishes itself as the only dual-platform quantum computing company, offering both annealing and gate-model systems, with more than 100 organizations across commercial, government, and research sectors using its technology.

The company’s Leap quantum cloud service offers 99.9% availability and uptime, positioning D-Wave as a leader in enterprise-grade quantum computing solutions.

Disclaimer: The author does not hold or have a position in any securities discussed in the article. All stock prices were quoted at the time of writing.