Dear reader,
Yesterday I told you about the government's $2 billion quantum commitment and what I think it signals.
Today, I want to show you that Washington isn't alone.
IBM Just Put $10 Billion On The Record
On May 28 - five days ago - IBM (IBM) filed an SEC disclosure announcing it will invest more than $10 billion in quantum computing over the next five years.
The goal: deliver the world's first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.
This isn't a press release. It's a legal filing. IBM put this commitment on the record in front of regulators, investors, and the public. That's a very different level of conviction than a keynote announcement.
When the US government bets $2 billion on quantum in the same week IBM commits $10 billion, you must stop and ask: what do they both know that most investors don't?
IBM Already Has A Decade Head Start
Here's what stood out to me in the IBM disclosure. The company has already deployed more than 90 quantum systems globally - more than the total publicly reported by every other quantum company combined. Its quantum network includes over 325 Fortune 500 companies, universities, startups, and government agencies actively using its systems today.
This is not a company building toward a future product. It is a company with a customer base, a deployed infrastructure, and a decade of institutional relationships that no startup can replicate overnight.
The $10 billion will go toward research and development, manufacturing expansion, ecosystem partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions. That last piece is worth paying attention to. IBM is signaling it intends to buy its way into capabilities it doesn't yet have - which means the entire quantum sector just got a potential acquirer with deep pockets and a clear strategic mandate. That changes the risk profile of smaller quantum companies in a meaningful way.
A few numbers worth sitting with:
IBM has already deployed more than 90 quantum systems globally - more than every other quantum company combined.
Its quantum network includes over 325 Fortune 500 companies, universities, and government agencies actively using those systems today.
And the $10 billion commitment covers the next five years, targeting a fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.
There is also the Anderon foundry.
IBM Just Solved Quantum's Biggest Bottleneck
IBM is partnering with the US Department of Commerce to build America's first dedicated quantum chip manufacturing facility in Albany, New York. The government puts in $1 billion via the CHIPS Act. IBM puts in another $1 billion in cash plus intellectual property and infrastructure.
The result is a 300-millimeter quantum wafer manufacturing facility - the first of its kind. Manufacturing has been one of the biggest bottlenecks in quantum computing. You can design a remarkable quantum processor, but if you can't build it reliably at scale, the commercial promise stays theoretical.
Anderon is IBM's answer to that problem. And it's why I consider IBM the foundational anchor of any serious quantum portfolio.
The Quantum Play Nobody Sees Coming
Tomorrow I'm going to highlight the stock that quietly benefits from every quantum computer IBM builds - and every quantum computer its competitors build too.
It's the name I'm most excited to talk about on Thursday, and it's one most people covering quantum have never heard of.
I'll be sharing my full quantum thesis - including the specific stocks I'm watching and the one name nobody is talking about yet.
Here’s to the future,
Matt McCall
Founder, NXT Wave Research
P.S. - IBM's disclosure mentioned mergers and acquisitions as part of the $10 billion spend. That means every small-cap quantum company on the market just got a potential buyer. I'll explain what that means for the stocks I'm watching on Thursday.
