Quantum computing stocks tumble after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang says the tech is still 20 years away

• Quantum computing stocks dropped sharply on Wednesday.
• The losses come after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said "very useful" quantum computers are decades away.
• The stocks had surged at the end of 2024 on breakthroughs in the tech announced by Google.

Quantum computing stocks plunged Wednesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang cast doubt on the timeline for the technology.

Shares of Rigetti and Quantum Computing each fell around 47%, while IonQ fell 45% and D-Wave Quantum fell nearly 50%.

The losses come after Huang, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, said "very useful" quantum computers are still likely 15-30 years away.

"If you said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that would probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it's probably on the late side," he said. "But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it."

Huang added that quantum computing is currently good at small data problems like cryptography, but lacks the technology to solve large data problems.

Huang also said he thinks Nvidia will be a key player in the space, helping create the computers as quickly as possible.

The downturn marks a steep turnaround for the stocks after they surged at the end of 2024 after Google unveiled its new Willow chip, sparking fresh hope for the future of quantum computing.

At the time, analysts said the chip could speed up and expand the applications for quantum computing.

"Willow could drastically speed up the training capabilities of Google's foundational models. Potential applications include drug discovery, advanced material design, next-generation encryption solutions, etc," Bank of America analysts said in a note last month.

Yardeni Research, meanwhile, called the chip "a quantum leap in quantum computing," pointing to its reportedly stark improvement from today's supercomputers.

"To us, this is the latest evolution of the Digital Revolution, which is all about data processing, i.e., processing more and more data, faster and faster," the firm's analysts said last month.

The chip, which is said to perform better than Google's previous version released in 2019, helped Rigetti, D-Wave and Quantum Computing each notch triple-digit gains in December.

Rigetti saw particularly big gains, soaring around 400% during the month to an all-time high.