“A $10 billion investment is pretty significant,” said IDC analyst Heather West. “And it’s sending signals out that in order to actually move the technology forward at a significant pace and get to these larger systems, there has to be a bigger investment in the technology itself. If the US wants to be ahead of the game, and keep leadership, there has to be this level of funding, either on the public or private side, or a combination of the two.”
IBM’s $10 billion investment news came on the heels of a $2 billion investment in a new quantum wafer foundry, Anderon — $1 billion of that funding is coming from IBM, and the other $1 billion is from the US government.
When news of the quantum investment was released late last month, IBM’s stock price rallied, and analysts expect it to continue to climb. Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow predicted that IBM’s stock price would go up to $350, and that quantum computing has the potential to be IBM’s “next chapter,” according to reports. Citi raised its target from $285 to $375, calling IBM “underappreciated” and with potential exposure to an $850 billion federally supported quantum market, according to reports.
The new announcements aren’t changing IBM’s stated quantum timeline, said West. IBM had already said it is targeting 2029 for fault-tolerant quantum computing. (Pictured above is a rendering of IBM Quantum Starling, a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer that IBM is building in its Poughkeepsie, New York, facility for delivery by 2029.)
