D-Wave Surges on AT&T Deal as Insiders Cashed Out at $26

NEW YORK, July 28 —

In the weeks before D-Wave Quantum's expanded AT&T agreement became public market news, the company's top executives sold $26.16 million in stock at prices between $24 and $26.54. The Regulation FD 8-K filed July 27 has since lifted shares higher. They trade at $16.21.

Two Catalysts, One Summer

The AT&T partnership follows an earlier structural win. D-Wave filed an 8-K on July 14 confirming a change in its stock exchange listing, which contemporaneous reports describe as an uplisting. Exchange upgrades typically broaden a company's access to institutional capital, and this one landed about two weeks before the AT&T news. Together, the two events gave D-Wave a broader institutional investor base and a commercial anchor entering the second half of 2026. The commercial specifics of the AT&T agreement, including contract value, duration, and deployment scope, were not disclosed in the filing.

Exercise and Exit

The insider selling predates both catalysts. On June 8, CEO Alan Baratz exercised stock options covering 687,627 shares at strike prices of $0.91 and $0.85 per share, then sold all of them the same day at $26.13, generating $17.97 million in proceeds. Options struck below $1 converted into stock sold above $26. The transaction was the largest single insider disposal in the 90-day window.

CFO John Markovich made four open-market sales between June 9 and June 15, disposing of 246,113 shares at prices ranging from $24.01 to $26.54 for combined proceeds of approximately $6.25 million. EVP and CHRO Sophie Ames sold 3,070 shares at $16.95 on July 20, the most recent open-market transaction in the period, executed seven days before the AT&T filing and well off the June highs. Across all Form 4 filers in the 90-day period ended July 28, net insider selling totaled $26.16 million. Insider purchases over the same window: zero.

The Revenue Gap

D-Wave's trailing twelve-month revenue came in at approximately $10 million, an 80.9% decline from the prior year. The company's free cash flow deficit ran to $64 million over the same period. Set against a $6.0 billion market capitalization, those figures imply a valuation structure almost entirely built on future expectations rather than present performance.

The spread between where insiders sold and where the stock trades now is not inherently evidence of wrongdoing. Option exercise-and-sell programs are common at companies where equity compensation forms a large part of executive pay. Still, at $26.13, the CEO held the clearest possible view of D-Wave's commercial pipeline and concluded that price was the right one to exit. At $16.21, the market is now offering a 38% discount to that assessment.

Checkpoints Ahead

The next quarterly filing will be the most direct test of whether the AT&T agreement or any other commercial development is arresting the revenue decline of the past year. Analyst consensus at $37.56 implies the sell-side still sees substantial upside from current levels, though that target sits well above both the price at which insiders exited and the current trading level.

Watch Form 4 filings for any change in the insider posture, particularly whether the same executives begin purchasing at current prices. The AT&T deal's commercial terms, if disclosed in subsequent filings or earnings calls, will determine whether the partnership represents a proof-of-concept relationship or a revenue driver at scale.

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Basis Report does not hold positions in securities discussed. This is not investment advice.