Quantum computing stocks have been the most spectacular trade on Wall Street over the past year — returns of up to 6,217% for IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave, valuations that make the dot-com era look restrained, and a narrative so compelling that even seasoned investors have suspended disbelief. But a new report from The Motley Fool has put a number on what the insiders have been quietly doing while the retail crowd cheers: they have been selling. Relentlessly. To the tune of $931 million in net stock sales since mid-2021.
That figure, drawn from SEC Form 4 filings, represents the gap between what executives, board members, and major shareholders at IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) have sold versus what they have bought over five years. The buying side of that ledger is almost comically small: IonQ insiders purchased $3.35 million in stock over the same period. Rigetti insiders bought $625,000. D-Wave insiders bought just $309,080. Three companies with a combined market value running into the tens of billions, and the people running them could barely scrape together $4.3 million in conviction buys.
This is not a minor data point. It is one of the clearest signals that a bubble is in progress.
The Valuation Problem Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Bubbles are rarely invisible. They are ignored. The quantum computing bubble is no exception. As of late May 2026, IonQ trades at 109 times sales. Rigetti trades at 836 times sales. D-Wave trades at 791 times sales. For context, a price-to-sales ratio of 30x has historically proven unsustainable for even the most transformative technology companies at the peak of their hype cycles. These three names are trading at multiples that are not 10% or 20% above that threshold — they are trading at 3x to 27x above it.
Rigetti reported Q4 revenue of $2.33 million. The company’s market capitalization implies a business that does not exist yet at any commercially meaningful scale. D-Wave’s Q1 2026 revenue was $2.86 million. IonQ is the relative standout, reporting Q1 2026 revenue of $64.67 million on 755% year-over-year growth — impressive by any measure, except when the stock is priced for perfection compounded annually for the next decade.
Every Bubble Has a Moment When the Signs Become Undeniable
The dot-com bubble had its warnings. The 2021 SPAC frenzy had its warnings. Crypto in late 2021 had its warnings. In each case, the warnings were visible, documented, and widely dismissed because the narrative was too exciting to interrupt. Quantum computing is following the same script.
The technology is real. The long-term opportunity is real — Boston Consulting Group forecasts that quantum computing could add up to $850 billion in global economic value by 2040. But there is an enormous distance between real technology and current valuations justified by current fundamentals. That distance is where bubbles live.
What makes the insider selling signal so significant is precisely what The Motley Fool noted: there is only one reason an insider buys shares of their own company — the expectation that the stock will be worth more in the future. Insiders at IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave have collectively demonstrated, through their actions rather than their earnings calls, that they do not hold that expectation with any conviction. They have not bought $931 million worth of stock. They have sold $931 million worth of stock. The asymmetry is not subtle.
The Incumbents Are Moving In
There is a second dimension to this story that compounds the risk for pure-play quantum names. IBM has announced plans to invest over $10 billion through 2029 to build a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer. IBM already operates more than 90 quantum computers globally. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are all running substantial quantum programs with R&D budgets that dwarf anything IonQ, Rigetti, or D-Wave can field.
This is the pattern that ends technology bubbles. The early pure-plays capture the imagination and the capital. The incumbents watch, learn, and then move in with resources the pure-plays cannot match. The narrative shifts. The multiples compress. The retail investors who bought at 800 times sales are left holding securities that need a decade of flawless execution just to justify a fraction of their entry price.
What Comes Next
None of this means quantum computing fails as a technology. It almost certainly will not. The question has never been whether quantum computing matters. The question is whether IONQ at 109x sales, RGTI at 836x sales, and QBTS at 791x sales reflect any version of rational pricing — and the answer, by almost any historical standard, is no.
The $931 million insider selling figure is not a prediction. It is a record. It is what the people closest to these companies have already done. When the bubble does burst — and on this trajectory, it is a matter of when, not if — that number will be cited as one of the signs that were impossible to ignore.
They always are.
Reference: Quantum Computing Stocks IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum Are Sending Shockwaves Through Wall Street With This $931 Million Warning — The Motley Fool, May 28, 2026.