The Dow Chemical Company (DOW - Free Report) and 1QB Information Technologies (1QBit") entered into a collaborative pact to develop quantum computing tools for the chemicals and materials science technology spaces. Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Dow Chemicals unique innovation capabilities combined with 1QBits leading expertise in the development of applications for quantum computing will speed up the deployment of quantum computing across a number of applications related to the chemical sector.

The partnership will also enhance Dow Chemicals discovery process by building strong fundamental understanding of new chemicals and materials.

1QBit intends to apply breakthroughs in computation to machine intelligence and optimization science through a broadly accessible, hardware-agnostic software platform. The company has been developing new methods for machine learning, sampling, and optimization for the last four years based on reformulating problems to meet the unique requirements of interfacing with quantum computers and leveraging their capabilities.

With this agreement in place, both the companies plan to develop strong capabilities in the quantum computing space and advance their world-class innovation capabilities.

Dow Chemical has outperformed the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry over a year. The companys shares have moved up around 18.7% over this period, compared with roughly 16.8% gain recorded by the industry.

Dow Chemical is witnessing signs of positive economic momentum globally, amid sustained geopolitical risks and volatility. The company is also seeing early signs of gradual improvements in consumer-led markets in Latin America. The company believes that the strength of its portfolio along with its focus on consumer-led markets will continue to bode well.

The company is expected to gain from productivity management actions as well as focus on consumer-led markets. Dow Chemical should also benefit from cost synergies associated with Dow Corning Silicones business and its strategic investments in the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Middle East. The planned merger with DuPont (DD - Free Report) is also expected to create significant synergies.

However, Dow Chemicals agriculture business remains affected by weak crop commodity prices and depressed demand in North America. The company also faces feedstock cost pressure and headwinds associated with higher start-up and maintenance costs.

Dow Chemical Company (The) Price and Consensus

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Dow Chemical currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some top-ranked stocks in the chemical space include BASF SE (BASFY - Free Report) and The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) . Both the companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BASF has expected long-term growth of 8.9%.

Chemours has expected long-term growth of 15.5%.

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Dow Chemical, 1QBit Ink Quantum Computing Development Deal - Zacks.com