Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) saw a remarkable surge in its stock price on December 17, 2024, closing at $16.79, a 51.53% increase from the previous day's close of $11.08. The stock opened at $14.20 and reached an intraday high of $18.06, driven by an extraordinary trading volume of 187,049,136 shares, nearly 800% of its average daily volume. This dramatic rise was primarily fueled by the announcement of a significant contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The contract involves the use of Quantum Computing's Dirac-3 entropy quantum optimization machine to enhance NASA's imaging reconstruction and data processing capabilities, particularly in phase unwrapping for interferometric data.
The news of the NASA contract has positioned Quantum Computing Inc. as a key player in the quantum technology sector, sparking investor enthusiasm and contributing to the stock's meteoric rise. Despite the company's recent quarterly loss, the contract underscores its potential to deliver advanced quantum solutions, which has been further bolstered by an analyst upgrade from Ascendiant Capital Markets. However, experts caution about the competitive nature of the quantum sector, suggesting that while the current momentum is strong, long-term sustainability remains uncertain.