SPC Premium: The Hottest Storyline — and Hottest Stocks — for 2026?

September is when families are back from vacation, parents get back to work, kids go back to school, and Wall Streeters come back from the Hamptons and get back to their desks.

It also jumpstarts the daily “what’s-next” obsession with stocks; no surprise, then, that September is historically the worst month for stocks … and that October is feared for its volatility … and for the echo of crashes past.

Here at Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC), we stay focused on the bigger picture.

Instead of worrying about the “next trading day,” we’re looking for those “next big storylines” that can bring you years of profits.

And one of those “next big storylines” is one that should start getting real traction in 2026: Quantum computing.

There’s been plenty of buzz around quantum. And that buzz is valid: Quantum should be a game changer.

But it’ll also be tricky — at least right now.

It’ll be a game changer, because it’s a whole new type of computing.

It’ll be tricky because, as an emerging business, most of the “pure plays” are still small, which can make them risky.

But we’ve been tracking two developments that show us there’s real progress.

First, companies in this “industry of the future” are booking revenue today. In an economy that keeps getting tighter, customers only spend money when they see value; this tells us real “use cases” for quantum technology are taking shape.

One example is D-Wave Quantum Inc. $QBTS ( ▲ 11.91% ), which offers cloud access to quantum computers. Its commercial clients include the car maker Volkswagen, defense contractor Lockheed Martin and tax-and-advisory firm Deloitte.

For D-Wave, second-quarter revenue only totaled $3.1 million. But it grew at a 42% rate from the same time last year. We like to see big top-line growth rates, even from a small base. That bolsters my earlier point: Not only do customers see value they’re willing to pay for; they’re doing so at a growing rate.

That's good. And we’ll want it to continue.

That brings me to the second development we’re watching: The speed at which the technology is advancing. A lot of those applications are highly technical, so we’ll just keep a simple focus on the impacts. But those impacts tell us that the technology — and therefore the industry — can scale.

Check out these three examples I picked out to show you.

• Microsoft Corp. $MSFT ( ▲ 1.86% ) made progress towards more stable and less-error prone “building blocks” of quantum computing called qubits, which means quantum computers could do things regular computers can’t — like design new medicines.

• Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL ( ▲ 1.07% ) had a breakthrough in how quantum computers detect and fix errors, improving dependability; quantum computers can easily be thrown off by disturbances and irregularities.

• And Amazon.com Inc. $AMZN ( ▲ 0.11% ) expanded its cloud-service firm, Braket, providing more developers access to quantum tools. This increased access can speed up overall progress and positive developments for the industry.

And thanks to our positioning, you’re not just watching this progress — some of you have been participating in it …

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