Quantum computing stocks were red-hot recently, but Jensen Huang just offered optimistic investors a reality check.

Quantum computing may be many years out, but even the founder and CEO of Nvidia now seems to think: “Why wait?” Quantum computing stocks jumped Wednesday following an announcement from Nvidia that it would add a “Quantum Day” event to its GTC conference in March.

Stocks and ETFs tied to quantum computing rose significantly Wednesday after Nvidia and Microsoft highlighted the industry's enormous potential.

Shares of quantum computing company IonQ ( IONQ 5.48%) raced higher this week. The stock was up by 28.5% as of Friday morning, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Jensen Huang’s comments at last week’s CES about quantum computing being decades away stirred up discussion within the quantum industry.

Quantum stocks like Rigetti, IonQ and D-Wave Quantum saw steep losses after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said quantum computers are decades away.

Therefore, Huang's prediction that quantum computers won't go mainstream for 15 to 30 years sounds reasonable. It took Nvidia about two decades for its gaming and professional vis

Quantum computing is still early, experts say. Finding early stock winners is easier than crunching calculations.