Rigetti Computing (RGTI) stock lost 78.7% over the past year, even as the S&P 500 returned 17.3%. The underlying business moved in the opposite direction. Revenue for April to June 2026 reached $5.14 million, up 185.3% from a year earlier. Shareholders watching sales climb while the stock sinks face a genuine choice about whether to trim or add to their positions. So what are buyers paying for Rigetti today?

What Rigetti Buyers Get For Their Money

Rigetti stock trades at 291.5 times its sales over the twelve months to June 2026. The S&P 500 trades at 3.1 times sales by comparison. This multiple reflects a market value of about $3.9 billion set against revenue of $13.4 million. A traditional price-to-earnings ratio offers no insight here, as Rigetti lost money over those twelve months.

The company also loses money on its operations. Its operating loss over the same twelve months equaled 727.6% of its revenue. By contrast, the S&P 500 as a whole kept 18.5% of its revenue as operating profit. Anyone buying the stock at today's price appears to be paying for sales well beyond what Rigetti reports now.

This recent jump in sales follows two years of shrinking revenue, which included a 37.2% drop over the twelve months to June 2025. Across its last three twelve-month periods, Rigetti posted average revenue growth of 6.3%, close to the 5.9% average for the S&P 500. That average blends two drops with a 68.5% jump, so it hides far bigger swings than the index shows. Rigetti would have to grow far faster than that historical pace to bring its sales multiple anywhere near the broader market.

Is Rigetti Losing Less Money As It Grows?

In dollar terms, the answer is not yet. Rigetti saw its operating loss for April to June 2026 grow to $28.1 million, up from $19.9 million a year earlier. Revenue grew faster, shrinking the loss to 546.2% of revenue from 1,104%. According to an August 7 news report, the quarter's revenue beat estimates but its earnings missed them. The report blamed higher R&D and SG&A costs. For anyone adding shares, that is the risk: the company is spending more as it grows, and its loss has grown too.

Rigetti can afford to carry those losses for now. The company held $394 million in cash and short-term investments on June 30, 2026, against total debt of $7.7 million. Its free cash outflow over the twelve months to June 2026 was $87.6 million. At that pace, the existing cash balance would cover about four and a half years. That pace is rising, however. The outflow of $27.8 million for April to June 2026 was the largest of the past five quarters. At that quarter's pace, the cash would last about three and a half years.

Rigetti's July To September Results Are Still To Come

The next quarterly report from Rigetti will cover July to September 2026. The company posted an operating loss of $20.5 million for July to September 2025. If revenue once again outpaces the loss, the argument that Rigetti can grow into its costs becomes stronger. Conversely, if the loss grows faster than revenue, the higher spending is not yet paying off, making today's sales multiple harder to support.

How To Act On RGTI?

Now you know RGTI better. And that's our purpose: to make you informed before you invest your money. However, making a bet on a single stock carries its own risks.

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