Shares of French quantum-computing company Pasqal jumped as much as 73% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday before paring gains to trade about 40% higher.
The company began trading after completing a merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp II, a blank-check company, in a transaction that valued Pasqal at roughly $2 billion.
The deal provided the loss-making quantum firm with approximately $360 million in cash, which it plans to use to expand production and accelerate development of its computing systems.
Pasqal is one of Europe’s most prominent quantum-computing companies and is developing processors based on neutral atoms controlled by lasers. Co-founder Alain Aspect, who shared the 2022 Nobel Prize for work on quantum entanglement, helped lay the scientific foundation for the company’s technology.
The Nasdaq debut comes as investor interest in advanced computing technologies grows alongside the broader AI boom. Quantum computing has also gained political attention in the United States, where the government is backing efforts to accelerate development of commercially useful systems.
Pasqal generated €16.5 million in revenue in 2025 and already has commercial customers, including Saudi Aramco, which is exploring quantum computing for underground-reserve modeling.
The company has deployed seven machines so far, including systems at national supercomputing centers in France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Its facilities in France and Canada can currently produce up to 13 machines per year.
