1 Top Quantum Computing Stock to Buy in 2026
1 Top Quantum Computing Stock to Buy in 2026
Chris Neiger, The Motley FoolThu, February 26, 2026 at 3:05 PM UTC
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Key Points -
Alphabet has made early investments in the technology and could become a key player, just as it has with AI and self-driving cars.
Management says it could take five to 10 years before useful quantum computers emerge.
Buying Alphabet now means you'll benefit from the company's leading tech positions while you wait for quantum computing to fully take shape.
10 stocks we like better than Alphabet ›
The share price of many small quantum computing companies has skyrocketed over the past few years. But lately, investors haven't been optimistic. Concerns about being over-invested in tech stocks, geopolitical risks, and tariffs have scared many of them away from more-speculative plays.
How can investors still benefit from quantum computing without being overexposed to such a speculative industry? One smart way right now is to buy Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG). Here's why.
Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »
A computer-generated image of a square on a computer logic board.
Image source: Getty Images.
Alphabet is already making advances in quantum computing
I understand the appeal of picking Rigetti Computing, IonQ, or D-Wave Quantum for your quantum computing stock portfolio. These companies have a lot to gain if the market for the technology reaches its full potential. Unfortunately, they're also highly speculative stocks.
Alphabet, on the other hand, is an established tech player that's making significant waves in quantum computing. Consider that the company released its Willow chip in 2024, a processor capable of substantially decreasing quantum computing error rates. It also introduced an algorithm last year that ran 13,000 times faster than traditional advanced computer systems.
The company is methodically working through six milestones, of which it's on the third, aiming to build a large, error-corrected, one-million-qubit quantum computer. Its current progress shows just how well management has been in working its way through a defined road map.
Alphabet is following a winning strategy
The company ended the 2025 third quarter with $2.87 in earnings per share, $102 billion in sales, and $24.5 billion of free cash flow. The tremendous financial success the company enjoys means that it can invest heavily in emerging tech without needing an immediate payoff.
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Consider that it's one of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies right now, with 750 million monthly active Google Gemini users. And it just scored a recent multibillion-dollar deal for Gemini to become the underlying AI model for a new version of Apple's Siri. After years of AI investment -- and facing intense competition -- Alphabet remains a leading player in AI.
The same is true in autonomous vehicles (AVs), where the company's Waymo self-driving car service is now in six U.S. cities and is planning to expand to more than a dozen by the end of this year. After more than a decade of AV investments, the commercial market is now opening up, and Waymo is in the best shape to benefit.
I believe Alphabet could follow the same route with quantum computing. It has plenty of money to invest in new ideas, given its more than $24 billion in free cash flow and strong profitability. It also doesn't need quantum computing to be successful right away, just as it didn't need AI or driverless cars to do that when it began developing the tech.
Management has said that "useful" quantum computers are still five to 10 years away. That may seem like an eternity for investors, but the benefit of owning Alphabet right now is that you'll benefit from its lead in AI and AVs while you wait for quantum computing to catch up. Better still, its shares are relatively cheap, with a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of just 26, compared to the tech sector average P/E of 41.
Should you buy stock in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this:
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Chris Neiger has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: “AOL Money”
