Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.

Good afternoon, today is Tuesday, December 17th, and I'm your host, Kim Khan. Our top story so far.

Has the quantum trade already eclipsed the AI trade? Shares of quantum computing, ticker QUBT, or soaring

for a second straight trading day. That follows the news the company won a contract with NASA

to utilize Dirac 3, its entropy quantum optimization machine to support the space agency's

advanced imaging and data processing demands. The stock is up 45% after a 70% surge on Monday. It is more

than doubled since Friday and is up more than 500% since mid-Nove. Several other quantum stocks

followed suit, D-Wave Quantum, ticker Q, B-T-S, and Rgeti Computing, RGTI, are up about

10%. But IonQ, I-O-N-Q, is just lower.

Danil Serita, investing group leader for Beyond the Wall investing, so some of these

meteoric rises among quantum computing stocks will be short-term events. The space is highly

competitive, and likely only one or two of these companies will survive. This fact puts investors

in an awkward position if they try to invest in multiple companies

without being aware of their particular prospects, Serita said.

Due to the high technology hurdles and a scarcity of market players, many of these companies

will be unable to survive, so it's important for investors not to buy into an entire niche

on an ad hoc basis.

Also, there's a clear gap between their skyrocketing market caps and their factual performance.

For example, INQ has a market cap of more than $9 billion in the face of sustained losses,

and Raghetti's value at roughly $2 billion is in the face of declining revenue.

Quantum computing likewise is experiencing a stock price explosion, while

reporting little revenue and continued losses. Meanwhile, seeking Alpha analysts Delantha

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