I've been watching Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) take a brutal beating lately, and it's raising an interesting question that a lot of people are asking right now: should you buy stocks when they are down this hard?

The numbers are pretty stark. The stock was trading around $56 earlier this year before collapsing to roughly $15 today. That's a 72% drop from its peak, which definitely gets people's attention. Some investors see that kind of dip and immediately think opportunity. But here's the thing about quantum computing plays—the calculus is way different than traditional tech.

Rigetti is genuinely one of the pure-play quantum computing stocks that's been generating real buzz. The company had that viral moment in 2025 when it surged 270%, riding on some breakthrough improvements in error rates, major partnerships, and honestly a lot of speculative fever around the entire quantum space. But if you look at the actual fundamentals, Q3 revenue came in at $1.9 million, which was actually down from $2.4 million the year before. Meanwhile, the net loss ballooned to $201 million from $15 million. That's... significant.

Now, I get it—quantum computing is still in its infancy, so losses are expected. The company is rightfully burning cash on R&D because the tech isn't there yet. But here's what the CEO actually said on the earnings call: they're looking at roughly four more years before quantum advantage becomes real, and even then, real commercial viability probably doesn't happen until after 2030. So we're talking about a long runway with no meaningful revenue in sight.

When people ask should you buy stocks when they are down, especially in speculative spaces like this, you have to factor in what actually drove the crash. Part of it was profit-taking, sure. But a huge part was that the stock got completely disconnected from reality—surging to ridiculous valuations on basically zero revenue or earnings. The sell-off that started late last year and is still grinding lower in 2026 is the market recalibrating.

There's also the elephant in the room: Microsoft, Alphabet, and IBM are all building their own quantum computing capabilities. When the technology finally does become viable, will these giants just dominate the space or acquire the smaller players? That's a real risk that pure-play investors need to think about.

So should you buy stocks when they are down? In this case, it depends entirely on your risk tolerance and time horizon. If you're convinced quantum computing is the future and you can stomach years of volatility with no earnings, then yeah, the low entry point might be worth a small position. But you need to understand what you're actually buying: a highly speculative bet on technology that won't be commercially viable for years. This isn't a value play. The stock could spike again on some positive news, but without actual revenue coming in, expect it to remain volatile and subject to wild swings.

If you do decide to buy, keep the position small. This is a long-term speculation, not a near-term recovery story. The dip is real, but so are the risks.