Quantum Computing said first-quarter revenue jumped to $3.7 million from $39,000 a year earlier after it completed the acquisitions of Luminar Semiconductor and NuCrypt during the quarter. Dr. Yuping Huang said the company made “meaningful progress” as it moved to assemble a broader photonics and quantum technology platform.
The revenue surge came after the company closed the Luminar Semiconductor deal in early February and the NuCrypt purchase in early March. On the first-quarter shareholder update call, Huang said the Luminar Semiconductor acquisition marked a significant step in building a vertically integrated platform and said it added lasers, detectors, advanced packaging and testing, plus an established photonics customer base and more research, development and manufacturing capacity.
Quantum Computing said Luminar’s businesses include Freedom Photonics, EM4 and Optogration. Freedom Photonics brings semiconductor laser technology and about 25 issued and pending patents. EM4 operates a Class 10,000 certified humidity-controlled clean room facility and supplies several U.S. government programs as well as European defense and space markets. Optogration focuses on chip manufacturing, device assembly, testing and low-volume component production.
Huang said LSI’s capabilities are already being used in several initiatives aimed at advancing the company’s quantum device and systems development. He also said NuCrypt adds a patent portfolio spanning quantum optics, RF photonics and photonic signal processing, along with systems that can generate, measure and distribute entangled photons over fiber optic cables. He said organizations including NASA, the U.S. Army Research Lab and major research universities have used NuCrypt’s technology.
The acquisitions helped the company’s reported top line, but they also left the cost base heavier. Chief Financial Officer Chris Roberts said operating expenses rose to $19.8 million from $8.3 million a year earlier, reflecting a substantial increase in staff that included administrative, technician, engineering and scientific personnel. He said the larger organization is now close to 200 people.
Roberts said he does not expect major direct cost savings from eliminating redundancies because the acquired companies already ran lean back-office teams. He said the larger group should still benefit from scale in employee benefits, insurance and combined business development opportunities.
Excluding contributions from Luminar Semiconductor and NuCrypt, Quantum Computing generated $204,000 in revenue in the quarter, mainly from foundry order deliveries and work on a NASA research and development subcontract. Roberts said the revenue increase was driven primarily by the early February LSI acquisition and, to a lesser extent, NuCrypt, which was acquired in early March. Huang said the two deals are complementary and help create “a complete toolbox” for customers.
The first-quarter numbers show a company still far from profitability, but now operating with more assets, more staff and a much larger revenue base than a year ago. The next test is whether the newly acquired photonics businesses can keep feeding that growth without pushing expenses faster than the company can absorb.
