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IonQ (IONQ -3.47%) is one of the most popular quantum computing pure plays for a reason. It has incredible technology, and its latest quantum computer model will launch early next year. This could kick-start more interest in quantum computing if it's successful, and a handful of preorders are already lined up.

This bodes well for the stock, but how much upside does it have? Could it make you a millionaire? Let's check the math.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

IonQ could deliver huge growth For any stock to be called a millionaire maker, I think its return threshold should be set at 100x, meaning it could transform a $10,000 investment into $1 million. That's a high bar to clear, but the quantum computing revolution could be huge.

There are at least nine different technological approaches to make the qubits that sit at the heart of a quantum computer, the most common of which involves using superconducting circuits.

That's not the one IonQ is pursuing. Instead, it's using trapped ion qubits; each one is made from a single charged atom, held in place by electromagnetic fields. This technology offers better accuracy than superconducting qubits, but it's slower. However, given that insufficient accuracy is one of the major problems with quantum computing, this approach makes sense. IonQ currently holds the world record for the most accurate quantum computing technology, and it is building its innovative 256-qubit system around it. IonQ is expected to launch that system in early 2027, and it could be a decent revenue driver, further inching the company toward becoming a self-sustaining business.

$31.16-$1.12 (-3.47%)

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By 2035, McKinsey & Company estimates that the quantum computing industry could grow to be worth up to $72 billion annually.

Let's assume the market reaches that lofty projection in 2035 and make the further assumption that IonQ captures 100% of it. If it grows to deliver an impressive 50% profit margin (in line with the margins being delivered by Nvidia, the current king of computing units), that would result in $36 billion in annual profits. If we apply an earnings multiple of 30 to that figure, we get a $1.08 trillion company.

Currently, IonQ has a market cap of about $11.7 billion. So if all the assumptions in that ambitious projection come true, that would mean just over a 90x return.

So even under that highly optimistic bull case, I don't think IonQ has what it takes to deliver a 100x return within a decade. However, I still think it could generate market-beating returns if its quantum computing technology pans out, and over the long term, that could help you build a million-dollar portfolio.

In recent years, investors have closely followed quantum computing. If successful, the technology could increase computing speeds exponentially.

The problem with this technology is the delicate nature of quantum bits (qubits) and high error rates. Such challenges mean that widespread commercial viability is likely several years away.

However, companies of all sizes are working to make the technology viable, and if successful, it could dramatically transform companies and the tech industry at large. Knowing this, if I could only invest $1,000, I would choose IonQ (IONQ -1.60%) as my quantum computing stock. Here's why.

Image source: Getty Images.

What about other quantum computing companies? To be clear, I regard this as one $1,000 investment within a diversified portfolio. IonQ is a risky choice, and I would consider this a speculative investment.

Long-time tech investors might remember that numerous internet information companies emerged before Google's parent company, Alphabet, became the dominant search engine. Likewise, the quantum computing industry is likely to undergo a similar shakeout.

This poses a significant risk to IonQ and to start-up peers such as Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum. These companies, IonQ included, are all-in on the technology, and it is unclear how they will survive if they fail to become top players in the quantum computing industry.

For the more risk-averse investors, Alphabet and IBM are also quantum computing investment options. The fact that these are established tech businesses bodes well for the stocks. Still, they only earn a negligible amount of revenue from the technology, which makes it debatable whether one can call them "quantum computing stocks" in any meaningful sense.

IONQ IonQ$30.78-$0.50 (-1.60%)

NYSE · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/19/26

The state of IonQ IonQ's competitive advantages have also eased many of my concerns about the company. It has taken a different path than Google or IBM by utilizing trapped-ion technology. The trapped ions can hold their quantum states longer. That reduces error rates and differentiates the company from its more established competitors.

Moreover, it operates as a quantum-as-a-service (QaaS) model. Thus, it is the only provider natively integrated with Google Cloud, Microsoft's Azure Quantum, and Amazon's Braket.

Additionally, IonQ is a partner of the industry's top chip company, Nvidia. IonQ seems to be following Nvidia's playbook in quantum, which makes the agreement appropriate.

Under the terms of the deal, Nvidia will link its AI supercomputing rack with IonQ's Superion 256 system. They will also orchestrate joint workloads on Nvidia's CUDA-Q platform, allowing Nvidia's GPUs and IonQ's QPUs to work seamlessly with one another, giving it an edge over competitors.

Despite these attributes, IonQ remains financially risky. Even with a 412% yearly revenue increase in the first half of 2026, it experienced $273 million in negative free cash flow during the same period.

IonQ has more than $2.1 billion in liquidity for now. That would imply nearly four years' worth of liquidity at current burn rates. Still, with commercial viability years away, it may need to eventually issue more shares or debt.

Furthermore, its valuation bears little relation to its condition. Its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 44, and the 26 forward P/S ratio offers little comfort to those looking for a better value.

However, if IonQ successfully leverages its competitive advantages and partnerships, the stock could experience considerable gains over time. That alone could make it worthwhile to risk $1,000 on IonQ's future.

Moving forward with IonQ stock It could be worth it for risk-tolerant investors to invest $1,000 in IonQ stock.

As a start-up, IonQ is not in a strong financial position, and since it has no obvious Plan B if it fails to succeed in quantum computing, investors face a serious risk of losing their investments.

Nonetheless, many investors are comfortable taking a $1,000 chance on a speculative stock within a diversified portfolio. Despite its limited resources, it has shown promising results using its trapped-ion technology. Moreover, the fact that it persuaded Nvidia to partner with it dramatically increases its chance of success.

Ultimately, if one has the appetite for risk and the foresight to back a technology with limited commercial viability in the foreseeable future, it may be worth taking a chance on IonQ stock.

IonQ (IONQ -8.94%) is one of the biggest names in quantum computing, but it's not a very large company. It has a $12 billion market cap, so if it rises by a multiple of 10 in a tick under a decade, it would only be a $120 billion company, which is pretty small by today's standards.

Still, finding a company that can reliably generate these returns is no easy task. But if quantum computing takes off, I think IonQ could do it.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

IonQ is going to be a major player in quantum computing Few companies are going to be as vertically integrated in the quantum computing space as IonQ. Its primary product will be centered around its quantum computers.

Management is taking a different approach than most companies because it's using a technique known as trapped ion versus the more common superconducting approach. Trapped ion technology yields more accurate results, but at the cost of processing speed. Currently, there are two primary holdups for making quantum computing viable from a commercial standpoint: accuracy and size.

IonQ has already taken a major step to remedy the first problem; Its trapped-ion approach holds the world record in two-qubit gate fidelity, a common measure of accuracy among quantum computing companies. This technology will be the basis of its 256-qubit quantum computer, which will make it one of the largest and most capable available for purchase.

$31.28-$3.07 (-8.94%)

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This unit is expected to be available in early 2027 and has already resulted in several orders. If this device is popular and starts to see large-scale early adoption, that could vault IonQ to the front of the quantum computing race and give it an early advantage that will be hard to defeat.

But that's not the only way the company can profit from quantum computing. This year, it closed its acquisition of SkyWater, giving it access to fabrication facilities to help develop its quantum chips.

It also recently purchased Elisity, a cybersecurity platform. Quantum computers will create new risks since they can easily defeat current security measures through brute force. The same reason that companies want to use them for business (their raw computing capability) is the same thing that makes them dangerous from a security standpoint. With IonQ positioning itself to be a major cybersecurity provider as well, it gets to play both sides of the game.

Management has a great game plan and looks to be executing at a high level, but how could that make the stock a 10-bagger by 2035?

Getting to $120 billion isn't as hard as it seems IonQ is unprofitable right now, so the best we can do is value it on sales. Many traditional computing companies trade for about 10 to 20 times sales, so if we use the low end of that range to value IonQ, it must generate $12 billion in annual revenue to reach the $120 billion valuation threshold.

Next year, Wall Street analysts project the company will generate just over $800 million in revenue, so it has a way to go to get to that level. However, we have yet to see quantum computing take off.

Companies in the industry are pointing toward 2029 as the arrival date of viable commercial quantum computing, and that could ignite a huge race to gain access to the technology. There are also projections from firms like McKinsey & Company that the industry could generate up to $72 billion annually by 2035. That doesn't include important offshoots like cybersecurity, so there's a clear pathway for IonQ to reach the $12 billion in its revenue threshold by then if its products truly take off.

However, there's no guarantee that quantum computing will catch on or that IonQ will be the one to provide a viable device. That makes it a high-risk, high-reward stock.

While I'm OK with investing in these types of companies, your position size needs to be kept relatively small to manage risk. As long as you're aware of that, I think IonQ will be a great investment to own over the next decade.

IonQ (IONQ +9.32%) has had a bad 2026. The stock is down by about 20% this year and is off by more than 60% from the all-time high above $84 that it reached at this time last year. However, I think it could be preparing for a rebound, and might blow right past that high next year on its way to $100 per share.

From its current level of less than $40 per share, that would be a rise of more than 150%, which is why I think it is one of the highest-potential stocks in the market now.

Image source: Getty Images.

IonQ has a major catalyst arriving in 2027
We're closer to commercially viable fault-tolerant quantum computing than we've ever been before. While many companies in this industry have been forecasting that viable quantum computing will arrive in 2030, several leaders in the space now see the timeline shortening to 2029, including IonQ. This is a big deal, as the first competitors to deliver on their goals will start to emerge in the near future.

I think IonQ will be one of those, as it has taken the lead with an unusual technology. Instead of using the more common superconducting qubit approach, IonQ is using trapped-ion qubit technology, which yields more accurate results at the cost of slower processing speeds. One of the primary reasons quantum computing isn't ready for widespread commercial use yet is that qubits are incredibly sensitive to outside interference, and as a result, calculations performed on quantum computers frequently yield incorrect results. Reducing their error frequency and developing better error-correction tools are among the central challenges that companies in the space are working on today.

So it makes sense that the companies developing quantum computers that lead in accuracy will see their systems adopted first, which is why I think IonQ has a strong chance of succeeding. In fact, IonQ holds the world record for quantum computing accuracy, with two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.99%.

$34.35+$2.93 (+9.32%)

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Another hurdle that stands between quantum computing and commercial viability is linking enough qubits together in one system to form a stable and accurate computing device with enough processing power to be useful. IonQ expects to start delivering its new 256-qubit system, the Superion 256, early next year, and there are already several preorders for it. If this device delivers on expectations, it could kick off a race by businesses to acquire early-stage quantum computers.

Right now, Wall Street analysts are bullish about IonQ's outlook for next year: The average projection is that its revenue will grow nearly 80%. If the launch is successful, it could blow past that forecast growth rate, which could help lift the stock to new heights.

We'll know a lot more about IonQ's success by this time next year. However, I think its future looks bright enough to warrant taking a small position in the stock and getting portfolio exposure to one of the best quantum computing companies out there.

IonQ just posted record revenue and a ballooning backlog, yet the stock sits near its 52-week low after another round of dilution. Whether the SkyWater acquisition changes that math depends on guidance the company has not yet provided.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) trades at $31.42, and the coming year will test a roadmap that leans heavily on acquisitions. The stock fell 9.53% in the latest session after IonQ announced a new equity offering.

IonQ builds trapped-ion quantum computers and also sells networking, sensing, and security products. Its acquisition of SkyWater Technology closed on July 31, 2026, which gave it its own quantum chip foundry. Still, the stock is down 59.48% over the past year, despite what management called its “fifth consecutive quarter of record results”.

Revenue Is Surging and Backlog Has Nearly Quadrupled Second-quarter revenue reached $80.05 million, up 286.8% year over year and well ahead of the $66.42 million consensus. Adjusted EPS came in at -$0.33, beating the -$0.60 estimate. Management raised full-year guidance to $280 million to $290 million, and that range does not yet include SkyWater. Remaining performance obligations, a measure of contracted future revenue, rose to $485 million from $122 million a year earlier.

Bulls also point to technical milestones. IonQ showed break-even quantum error correction and plans to begin commissioning 256-qubit systems in the first half of 2027. Wall Street largely sides with the optimists: 12 of the 14 covering analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy.

Dilution and Cash Burn Give Bears Real Ammunition Each new offering spreads ownership across more shares. Stock-based compensation alone came to $141.8 million in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $120.3 million for the quarter, and full-year guidance calls for a loss of $330 million to $310 million. The stock trades at about 45x the midpoint of revenue guidance, and its beta of 3.361 means it tends to swing much harder than the market (a name this volatile belongs in the speculative segment of a portfolio, with sizing and exit rules, the strategy we spelled out in a free guide here).

Strong quarters have also failed to support the stock. Across five earnings beats, shares averaged a -2.46% move in the week that followed.

SkyWater Guidance Will Shape the Next 12 Months The core business is performing. IonQ held $1.24 billion in cash before the new raise. What investors still lack is visibility. Management has not issued combined guidance with SkyWater, and the partnerships with Anduril and Sandia are not included in its numbers. Combined guidance showing margin gains would strengthen the bull case. A slip in the 256-qubit timeline would strengthen the bear case.

IonQ Lags the S&P 500 While Analysts Stay Bullish At $31.42, IonQ sits well below the average analyst target of $66.63, which means about 112% upside. Analyst targets are one data point and offer no guarantee. The 14 analysts break down as follows:

Strong Buy: 1 Buy: 11 Hold: 2 Year to date, the stock is down 29.98%, while the S&P 500 is up 12.87%. Over one year, IonQ has lost 59.48% against the index’s 16.22% gain. Shares trade below their 200-day moving average, which sits at $43.20, and are approaching the 52-week low of $25.89.

Combined SkyWater Guidance Is the Next Key Catalyst Revenue growth is genuine and the backlog supports it. Still, the newest equity raise shows that the cost of that growth falls partly on shareholders. Over the next two quarters, the key data point is combined IonQ and SkyWater guidance. Investors need to see whether foundry revenue and vertical integration narrow the EBITDA loss.

Each quarter, three things matter: growth in performance obligations, the trend in adjusted EBITDA, and whether management keeps the first half of 2027 target for 256-qubit commissioning. If all three hold up, the stock could re-rate toward analyst targets. Further dilution remains a risk in a stock with a beta above 3.

IonQ’s growth deserves attention, and the combined guidance that will clarify its path is still a few months away.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

IonQ (IONQ -9.41%) stock tumbled 9% through 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday -- and it's got only itself to blame.

Just before shares opened for trading this morning, IonQ announced it will raise $2 billion in cash by issuing and selling warrants and new shares of stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

IonQ's big cash grabSpecifically, IonQ plans to sell 20.5 million shares of common stock for $40 each; plus 29.5 million "pre-funded warrants" to buy stock -- also for $40 each -- plus 100 million warrants to purchase IonQ stock, exercisable at $69.46 per share at any time in the next seven years.

One single investor, Heights Capital Management, Inc. -- which, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, is a private equity firm owned by global quantitative trading company Susquehanna International Group -- will buy all of the above securities for $2 billion.

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What it means for IonQ -- and YouIt's pretty clear what's in this for IonQ: Although valued at nearly $14 billion, the quantum computing company has less than $250 million in annual revenue, is losing $1.4 billion a year, and, according to pretty much every analyst who follows the company, is still at least a half decade away from earning any profit whatsoever.

With $2.1 billion in cash reserves, IonQ is expected to burn more than $640 million in cash this year -- then $2 billion more over the next three years, emptying its bank account entirely. Raising $2 billion now is the smart move, heading off a cash crisis before it happens.

What's less clear is why Heights Capital Management is willingly paying $40 a share for a stock it could easily buy for under $32 today. That seems like a bad deal to me, for this investor... and for any investor.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Federal Government continues to be a key driver of funding for domestic quantum computing companies—an Oct. 8 announcement from the Department of Defense pledges about $350 million in new initiatives and programs to U.S. quantum computing capabilities that support national security efforts. This comes just months after the Department of Commerce promised more than $2 billion to domestic firms specializing in quantum computing.

The government has so far been fairly quiet about specifics regarding this funding support, although a separate announcement revealed a $150-million conditional loan commitment to privately held quantum firm PsiQuantum related to the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Still, while the news of major funding for military-focused quantum initiatives could be positive for some quantum computing companies, the latest announcements are not necessarily an immediate game-changer for the industry.

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DARPA's Initiative and IonQ Are the Big Winners HereThe QBI is the recipient of about $200 million in new funding from the announcement. DARPA has identified a handful of companies that have advanced through the process, including major tech firms like IBM Corp. NYSE: IBM and Microsoft Corp. NASDAQ: MSFT.

IonQ Today

$36.22 -3.68 (-9.21%)

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One standout from the more niche publicly traded quantum sphere is IonQ Inc. NYSE: IONQ, which is among DARPA's firms advancing in the QBI. IonQ is increasingly distinguishing itself from the long list of upstart quantum rivals in the U.S., thanks to its strong financial progress and its success with AI and other technologies.

Critically, too, IonQ is making a name for itself in the aerospace and defense industry. This is thanks in large part to its acquisition of Capella Space, which has facilitated the company's receiving a contract in August 2026 with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, among other achievements.

So far, IonQ's advances in radar technology have been crucial for developing military intelligence and disaster response. DARPA's goals for the QBI are broader, aiming to develop a fault-tolerant quantum computer, but IonQ's growing authority as a quantum firm with defense interests may help it appeal to the Department of Defense as well.

Other Quantum Computing Companies Could Still Move Toward Defense ApplicationsD-Wave Quantum Today

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IonQ is not the only publicly traded pure-play quantum company that has signaled interest in the defense space.

Earlier this year, D-Wave Quantum NASDAQ: QBTS announced a partnership with defense firms Davidson Technologies and Anduril Industries to create quantum-classical computer applications for air and missile defense, for instance.

Granted, a company like D-Wave—or another quantum firm seeking to explore defense applications—may now have an uphill climb as they do not enjoy the benefits of participating in DARPA's program.

This is both because these companies are not yet beneficiaries of Department of Defense funding and because they are increasingly playing catch-up to IonQ after the strength of its revenue momentum.

What the Defense Funding Does Not Mean for Quantum FirmsThe announcement from the Department of Defense is an important sign of the government's prioritization of quantum technology. However, it does not automatically translate into revenue for any quantum firms. More likely, the funds will be used to support research programs or to provide conditional loans, as in the case of PsiQuantum. Firms are likely to need to meet certain milestones before receiving funds, and government contracts often take years to translate into meaningful revenue even in well-established industries.

Another key consideration for investors is what the Pentagon actually needs from quantum computing. Despite the announcement's focus on general fault-tolerant quantum tech, there are likely to be specific applications: optimization of military logistics and operational planning, for instance, and improved analysis of sensing, navigation, and other intelligence data. Quantum-based military applications remain, for now at least, at an early stage of development.

That's not to discount the impact of major federal support on small quantum companies in particular. If a select quantum firm receives government funding, it could also gain access to government customers and additional opportunities, all of which may be transformational. On the other hand, not being selected for an initiative is not necessarily a black mark for companies still interested in exploring defense applications, either.

Throughout this process, investors may find few catalysts supporting or opposing specific stocks. Rather, the Department of Defense's announcement could signal several areas that investors should watch in the coming quarters: if any announced funding becomes finalized and leads to actual cash flow, whether IonQ and others in the DARPA program demonstrate significant technical progress, and whether defense contracts continue to expand as a meaningful share of revenue, for instance.

Should You Invest $1,000 in IonQ Right Now?Before you consider IonQ, you'll want to hear this.

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IonQ, Inc. (IONQ - Free Report) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock's performance in the near term.

Over the past month, shares of this company have returned +8.5%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +2.4% change. During this period, the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry, which IonQ falls in, has gained 5%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Revisions to Earnings EstimatesRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.

Our analysis is essentially based on how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to take the latest business trends into account. When earnings estimates for a company go up, the fair value for its stock goes up as well. And when a stock's fair value is higher than its current market price, investors tend to buy the stock, resulting in its price moving upward. Because of this, empirical studies indicate a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and short-term stock price movements.

IonQ is expected to post a loss of $0.23 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +93.6%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.

The consensus earnings estimate of -$1.09 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +40.1%. This estimate has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.01 indicates a change of +7.2% from what IonQ is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +7.4%.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for IonQ.

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Revenue Growth ForecastEven though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.

In the case of IonQ, the consensus sales estimate of $145.29 million for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +264.4%. The $455.01 million and $827.32 million estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +250% and +81.8%, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryIonQ reported revenues of $80.05 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +286.9%. EPS of -$0.33 for the same period compares with -$0.7 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $66.36 million, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +20.63%. The EPS surprise was -13.79%.

Over the last four quarters, the company surpassed EPS estimates just once. The company topped consensus revenue estimates each time over this period.

ValuationWithout considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.

While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.

As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

IonQ is graded F on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about IonQ. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

Projecting a stock to double in a year is a bold call, but I think IonQ (IONQ +1.11%) can get it done. If you aren't familiar with the stock, it's a quantum computing pure-play that's pursuing building a full quantum computing ecosystem. The stock hasn't had a great 2026 and is down about 12% for the year. However, there has been no shortage of good things going on at IonQ, and I think its underperformance has more to do with the market being slightly risk-averse right now than with IonQ's actual performance.

Several catalysts are coming up next year that could drive it higher, and I'm betting that the stock will more than double to reach a new all-time high sometime in 2027.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

IonQ is taking a unique approach to quantum computing One thing that sets IonQ apart from others in the quantum computing industry is its approach to the technology. It uses trapped ion technology, which yields more accurate computation at the cost of processing speed. Nearly every other competitor is pursuing a superconducting technique, which flips the advantages. However, with computing accuracy being one of the biggest hurdles quantum computing needs to clear before becoming commercially relevant, I like IonQ's approach more.

Another issue is that creating a computer with enough qubits (the basic computing unit for quantum computing, versus bits for traditional computing) has proven difficult. IonQ expects its class-leading 256-qubit system to be available for purchase sometime in 2027, which will attract clients that want to be an early-stage pioneer in the quantum computing industry. IonQ already has a handful of preorders for this system, and if it can deliver, it will have plenty of growth to allow it to reach new highs next year.

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Next year, Wall Street analysts estimate that IonQ will generate over $800 million in revenue, growing at a 79% pace. That indicates strong growth again for IonQ and positions it for a strong 2027.

Every few years, the market goes through a cycle of buying up quantum computing stocks as the technology gets closer and closer to commercial relevance. It has been a while since one of those has occurred, and with 2027 right around the corner, I wouldn't be surprised if there's another cycle coming up. That could lead to strong growth for IonQ's stock, delivering impressive stock returns to investors in just a year.

Keithen Drury has positions in IonQ. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Photonic interconnect generates more than 1,000 quantum connections per second between a trapped ion qubit and a silicon vacancy quantum memory.That entanglement rate is fast enough to support distributed quantum computing and other use cases. COLLEGE PARK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world’s leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, today announced the achievement of entanglement rates above 1,000 per second (1 kHz) between a trapped ion qubit and a solid-state memory, through a photonic interconnect. Entanglement is the quantum connection that lets separate systems work together, and it is the essential ingredient for networking quantum computers. While the trapped ion qubit sets the standard for qubit coherence, the solid-state quantum memory has unmatched efficiency coupling to light. Their juxtaposition is the best of both worlds, demonstrating the fastest quantum interconnect rate between qubits of any platform.

“IonQ has crossed a pivotal milestone for memory enhanced quantum interconnects, achieving more than 1,000 entanglement events per second,” said Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ. “Classical data centers achieved massive scale by connecting specialized processors, memory, and networks. Quantum systems will scale in much the same way. This breakthrough addresses a critical interconnect bottleneck and advances IonQ’s roadmap to build the networked quantum data centers of the future.”

A technical paper presents results from real-world hardware testing of an end-to-end link between a trapped ion system and a silicon vacancy (SiV) qubit, building on IonQ’s SiV quantum memory platform. IonQ’s demonstration achieves rates more than four times faster than the previous record1 for trapped ions, held by IonQ co-founder Chris Monroe’s research group at Duke University, also a collaborator on the paper.

“IonQ’s efforts in quantum interconnects go back over a decade, to the founding of the company. Moving qubits through photons will be necessary in any large-scale quantum computer, and this demonstration sets the foundation for some amazing work to come,” said Monroe, Chief Scientist at IonQ and Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor at Duke University.

“This work shows that a photonic quantum interconnect need not be a bottleneck for distributed quantum computing,” said Mihir Bhaskar, IonQ SVP and GM of Quantum Technologies at SkyWater. “Our technology can interface with almost any qubit type, so we see this unlocking a wide range of opportunities across multiple hardware modalities, from modular computing to networked sensing and beyond.”

This quantum memory and interconnect approach is also driving IonQ’s work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) HARQ program, which seeks to develop high-speed quantum interconnects compatible with multiple computing qubit types. While this latest demonstration used trapped ion systems, the underlying architecture is expected to be compatible with multiple qubit approaches. This may include neutral atoms and superconducting systems with transducers (devices that convert microwave signals into light).

IonQ’s memory and interconnect platform is likewise ramping up commercially, with the first commercial sale to the University of Maryland announced in April, and a second system sale to SDT in South Korea, announced in September.

Additional technical details can be found in the arXiv preprint.

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and foundry - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the Superion, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems. Earlier systems have helped customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve a 20x performance increase over previous quantum solutions and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations across North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. Our quantum computing services have been available through all major cloud providers since 2021, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before. Learn more at IonQ.com.

IonQ Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our research findings and their future applications, including in defense, critical infrastructure and environmental monitoring. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “pending,” “look forward,” “accelerate,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “suggest,” “plan,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “will,” “forecast,” “confident,” “position,” “become,” “on track,” “ensure,” “ongoing” and other similar expressions. These statements are only predictions based on our expectations and projections about future events as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may prove incorrect, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, among others, those described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 to be filed with the SEC. New risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can management assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement we make. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except as otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

References:

O’Reilly et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 090802 (2024)  More News From IonQ

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Key Takeaways IonQ's organic revenues jumped 132% year over year as fifth-generation systems drove growth.IONQ is scaling production for global deployments while maintaining its 100% growth outlook.IONQ's Skyloom has 84 optical communication terminals in orbit, twice the number from a year ago. IonQ’s (IONQ - Free Report) organic revenues in the second quarter of 2026 rose 132% year over year. The company continued to benefit from the deployment of its fifth-generation quantum computing systems, which was the largest driver of revenue outperformance in the quarter. During its earnings call, management highlighted more progress, such as the shipping of subsystems to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, which were being delivered and assembled at the customer site in Korea.

IonQ is also nearing the completion of a fifth-generation machine at QuantumBasel in Switzerland. The system is being assembled next to a fourth-generation machine that QuantumBasel previously purchased from IonQ. The company said the setup would be the first commercial deployment of two consecutive generations of quantum computers side by side.

IONQ stated it has been ramping up production to support multiple global quantum-computing deployments simultaneously and at scale. Based on these deployments and others, it maintained its full-year expectation for organic revenue growth of 100%, in line with the guidance provided at the start of the year. While Tempo quantum-computing revenues are expected to lead revenues this year, IonQ expects semiconductor-based computers to become the primary contributor next year as it shifts from laser-based to electronic-based control of qubits.

Meanwhile, the company is also expanding its space-based operations. Skyloom, which IonQ acquired earlier this year, currently has 84 optical communication terminals deployed in orbit, twice the number from a year ago. IonQ also started work on the HALO-Europa contract for the U.S. Space Development Agency and completed key design milestones for satellites supporting a multimodal constellation.

Recent Developments Among IONQ PeersD-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS - Free Report) and the Supply Chain Management Research Center in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas (“SCMRC”) announced a collaboration to explore quantum computing’s impact on complex supply-chain problems. The partnership will create the Quantum Supply Chain Initiative Support Fund with the SCMRC, aimed at advancing thought leadership, education and independent research on quantum computing applications in supply-chain management across retail, transportation and national defense. D-Wave has joined the partnership program of the SCMRC, which currently has more than 25 industry partners.

Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT - Free Report) , or QCi, announced Dirac-3S, the next-generation of its Dirac-3 quantum optimization machine. For the company, this marks a significant step toward commercial deployment of its quantum optimization technology. Dirac-3S advances the platform across speed, scale and solutions, with faster performance, improved solution quality, increased computing capacity and a modular architecture to support customers as their requirements grow. The first customer shipment of Dirac-3S is expected in November 2026.

The Zacks Rundown for IONQ StockOver the past three months, IonQ shares have dropped 3.9% against the industry’s 11% return. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ is trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S) of 22.27X compared with the 4.78X industry average. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Here’s how the company’s loss-per-share estimates have trended over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Two Wall Street firms see IonQ shares more than doubling from here, yet the stock sits nearly 50% below its peak with losses widening and shareholders already diluted. Here is what separates the bull case from wishful thinking.

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IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) currently trades at $43.87. Wall Street’s average price target is $66.63, which implies 51.9% upside.

IonQ is a pure-play quantum computing company. It sells trapped-ion systems along with quantum networking, sensing and security products. It just posted its fifth consecutive record quarter and raised full-year revenue guidance to $280 million to $290 million. Two sell-side firms, B. Riley Securities and Rosenblatt Securities, share a Street-high target of $100.00. That target implies 127.9% upside.

That gap suggests either the market or the analysts have misjudged IonQ.

Losses, Dilution and a Sector Selloff Cut IonQ Nearly in Half From Its High
Losses caused the decline. Q2 revenue reached $80.05M, up 286.8%. Yet adjusted EBITDA loss came to $120.3 million and GAAP net loss hit $1.87B. A $1.6B warrant fair-value charge caused most of that loss; stock-based compensation added $141.8M. A $2B equity offering diluted existing shareholders.

Shares are down 28.67% over 12 months and sit 48.2% below the 52-week high of $84.64.

The sector sold off widely. IonQ’s fiscal 2027 consensus EPS estimate fell from -$2.3667 90 days ago to -$3.3720.

Eleven of 13 Analysts Still Rate IonQ a Buy
Of the 13 analysts tracked, one rates IonQ a Strong Buy, 10 rate it a Buy, two rate it a Hold and none rate it a Sell. The latest move was a new initiation: Bank of America started covering the stock with a Buy rating.

Three drivers support the $100 bull case: trapped-ion technology scaling toward error-corrected systems, bookings from multi-year quantum-as-a-service contracts with hyperscalers and defense agencies, and a path to $1B in annualized revenue run-rates. Consensus fiscal 2027 revenue is about $811 million.

Backlog supports this. Remaining performance obligations reached $485 million, up from $122 million a year earlier. Catalysts include commissioning 256-qubit systems in the first half of next year and moving toward 10,000 qubits in 2027. The Anduril and Sandia agreements are not included in backlog or guidance, so revenue from them would be upside.

Price targets carry no guarantee. Most of the thesis depends on hardware milestones arriving in 2027.

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Rigetti and D-Wave Fell Harder, and Their Targets Imply More Upside
All three quantum stocks sold off together. IonQ held up best.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) is down 47.16% over one year. It trades at $15.74 against a $28.52 target, which implies 81.2% upside. Nine of 13 analysts rate it Buy or Strong Buy and four say Hold. Q2 revenue was only $5.14 million.

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) is down 32.94% over one year. At $16.57 against a $34.65 target, it implies 109.1% upside. Sixteen of 17 analysts rate it a Buy or better, even though Q2 revenue of $3.08 million missed estimates.

D-Wave has the most analyst-implied upside. IonQ has the least, but it generates far more revenue than either peer, so its upside rests on reported sales.

IonQ Trailed the S&P 500 by a Wide Margin Over the Past Year
IonQ trades at $43.87. The average target from 13 analysts is $66.63, or 51.9% upside. Over the past year, the stock fell 28.67% while the S&P 500 gained 14.46%. Year to date, IonQ is down 2.23% and the index is up 11.81%.

Short-term momentum is stronger. IonQ rose 11.6% over the past month while the S&P 500 fell 0.6%. Beta is 3.295, the 52-week low is $25.89, and shares trade at 72 times trailing sales.

IonQ’s Sales Growth Faces a Test From Widening Losses
This outlook improves if the 256-qubit systems launch on schedule, combined guidance with SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ:SKYT) shows revenue growing faster than costs, and backlog turns to sales. That path supports the $66.63 consensus target.

The bear case improves if adjusted EBITDA losses grow, more equity raises dilute shareholders, or acquisition integration stalls. At 72 times sales, execution slips leave little margin.

IonQ is the only company in this group with real revenue scale, making its smaller upside the most credible. The $100 target needs everything right. The consensus target needs steady execution.

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Key Takeaways IONQ will install Superion 256 at NVIDIA's NVAQC and connect it to the GB200 NVL72 system.IONQ's research will explore quantum-GPU integration, hybrid software and large-scale system prototypes.IONQ and NVIDIA will research optimization, financial risk, materials and drug discovery applications. IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) is set to become the first company to deploy an on-premise quantum computing system at NVIDIA’sAccelerated Quantum Research Center (“NVAQC”). The facility is designed to address key challenges in scaling quantum processors into a new class of accelerated quantum supercomputers.

IonQ’s full-stack quantum systems will be connected directly to NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure to advance qubits into useful, large-scale quantum supercomputers. The integration is expected to help tackle some of the world’s complex problems. Under the partnership, IonQ’s Superion 256 system will be installed at NVAQC and linked directly to NVIDIA’s GB200 NVL72 system through NVQLink. The workloads will be orchestrated through NVIDIA’s open CUDA-Q platform. The joint research effort will center on hybrid software development and large-scale system prototyping, producing open results and guidance for future AI applications and quantum-GPU co-design.

Superion 256 was introduced earlier this month and is the first in the Superion platform that all future compute products are expected to be built on. The platform scales from 256 qubits to millions of qubits, with every generation that follows Superion 256 expanding use of the same ions, the same qubits, the same electronic control and the same chip fabric. Installation at NVAQC is scheduled for next year.

Alongside quantum-GPU integration, joint research is expected to target quantum algorithms portfolio optimization and risk modeling in financial services, materials science and computational chemistry for drug discovery. These types of complex use cases will benefit from research conducted using the Superion 256 system.

IonQ and NVIDIA recently joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee on research aimed at addressing complex combinatorial optimization problems. Presented at IEEE Quantum Week earlier this month, the award-winning study paired generative AI with distributed quantum algorithms and ran on NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q platform.

Latest Developments Among IONQ’s PeersQuantinuum (QNT - Free Report) is building the technology and supply-chain foundation needed to scale fault-tolerant systems, together with its domestic partners. The company has recently finalized an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office for $100 million in federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. The award follows a letter of intent announced in May and will support R&D and U.S.-based quantum semiconductor manufacturing capabilities needed to deploy large-scale, fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum computers. 

Besides, GlobalFoundries (GFS - Free Report) , or GF, will be one of several of Quantinuum's foundries enlisted to fabricate its next-generation ion traps and other electronics, specifically focused on using 300mm wafer technology. The company has continued to advance its quantum technology roadmap and deepen collaborations across the quantum ecosystem. GF also announced that it has finalized a definitive agreement for a $375 million CHIPS award to accelerate its Quantum Technology Solutions business.

The Zacks Rundown for IONQ StockOver the past 12 months, IonQ shares have dropped 29.2% compared to the industry’s 210.9% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In terms of valuation, IONQ trades at a forward, five-year price-to-sales (P/S) of 23.72X compared with the 5.35X industry average. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The image below shows that estimates for the company’s 2026 loss per share have narrowed, while estimates for 2027 have been mixed over the past three months.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

On Wednesday, Nvidia (NVDA -0.41%) revealed that it has chosen IonQ's (IONQ +5.74%) Superion 256 system as the first quantum computer to be installed at the Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Center. IonQ is a pure-play quantum computing start-up, so this deal lends its systems legitimacy while helping Nvidia expand its footprint in the quantum computing space.

In light of this news, investors may wonder which of these two is the better quantum computing stock to invest in. The choice may come down to your personal investing tolerances. Here's why.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The case for Nvidia It is hard to argue against owning Nvidia stock. As most investors know, the GPU maker dominates the rapidly growing AI accelerator industry, and its data center chips have almost single-handedly transformed it into a tech behemoth.

The company now holds about $99 billion in liquidity. With that, it has begun to leverage its AI accelerator success into other product lines, and quantum computing is one of those areas.

At the research center, IonQ's Superion 256 will be connected to a cluster of Nvidia-powered servers using the NVQLink platform. IonQ's hardware will handle the quantum-specific tasks, while other processing-heavy workloads will be assigned to Nvidia's GB200 GPUs, with the whole system managed by Nvidia's CUDA-Q software.

Although it's still a stretch to refer to Nvidia as a "quantum computing company," the agreement with IonQ probably goes a long way toward showing how it's positioning itself for a quantum-oriented future.

For now, Nvidia remains primarily focused on AI. In the first half of its fiscal 2027 (which ended July 26), its revenue rose by 96% year over year to $178 billion. Also, due to the relatively slower growth in its costs and expenses, its net income surged by 161% to $118 billion.

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While that increase was occurring, the stock rose by a more modest 22% over the last year, though it now carries a $5.4 trillion market cap. Also, it trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28 and a price-to-sales ratio of 18 times, despite its ongoing rapid growth in a market that it dominates. Though these profits did not come from quantum computing, Nvidia is an excellent and safe choice that also offers investors relatively rapid growth.

Why some investors might consider IonQ IonQ does not have the luxury of making moves to diversify its revenue base, and its more modest $16 billion market cap reflects its status as a pure-play quantum computing company that is not yet profitable.

The future of such companies is usually uncertain at this stage. It is likely that many quantum computing companies will not succeed.

However, the odds of IonQ's success just rose significantly with this Nvidia deal. It introduced the Superion 256, its sixth-generation trapped-ion quantum computer, on Sept. 8. As its name reflects, it is built around 256 trapped-ion qubits, and it uses the same tech with which the company achieved 99.99% 2-gate fidelity in lab testing. These features make it both fast and -- relative to the machines produced by its rivals -- more accurate.

Additionally, the quantum computing chips it uses were fabricated on traditional semiconductor lines, making them manufacturable on a mass scale. That's likely another feature that made the Superion 256 attractive to Nvidia.

Unfortunately, IonQ has the financials of a struggling start-up. Its revenue of $145 million in the first half of 2026 far surpassed the $28 million it booked in the prior-year period. Still, it lost close to $1.1 billion in the first two quarters of this year, well above its $210 million loss in the same period last year.

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IonQ has over $2.1 billion in liquidity, so it can sustain this pace of cash burning for now. Nonetheless, the company's struggles seem to have contributed to the stock's 40% decline over the last year. Furthermore, its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 61 shows that its valuation remains well ahead of the business's fundamentals, which makes buying the stock now risky.

Should investors choose Nvidia or IonQ? Under current conditions, Nvidia is probably the more suitable choice for most investors.

Quantum computing is likely not yet a significant revenue source for Nvidia. Moreover, IonQ's new status as an Nvidia partner gives it a legitimacy that its most direct competitors may not currently have.

However, Nvidia offers rapid revenue and earnings growth at a comparatively low valuation. That makes it a safe bet for an investment that can surpass the market's performance.

In contrast, IonQ remains a highly speculative stock. Admittedly, eye-popping gains like the ones made from Nvidia's 1999 IPO sometimes make speculative stocks worthwhile. Should IonQ become a profitable quantum computing leader, the stock could deliver massive gains.

Still, such stocks are beyond the risk tolerances of most investors. Unless you have a huge appetite for risk, Nvidia is likely to be the more appropriate choice.

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IonQ (IONQ +4.42%), a full-stack trapped-ion quantum computing provider, closed at $42.54, up 4.42%. It rose after a real-time error-correction breakthrough and a research-center collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA -1.47%).
Trading volume reached 69.9 million shares, coming in about 233% above its three-month average of 21.0 million shares. IonQ IPO'd in 2021 and has grown 294% since going public.

How the markets moved todayThe S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.75%) fell 0.75% to 7,706, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -1.13%) fell 1.13% to 26,936. Among quantum computing hardware, software, and cloud-access services peers, Rigetti Computing (RGTI -3.12%) closed at $16.00, down 3.12%, and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS -4.27%) closed at $16.81, down 4.27%, as the group tracked IonQ's decoder news.

What this means for investorsIonQ defied a tech downturn today on company-specific news, prompting investors to bet that its quantum computing developments signal a leadership position in the space. The company announced a breakthrough in error decoding with what it called "the industry's first end-to-end real-time quantum error correction decoder that runs on a single standard off-the-shelf central processing unit (CPU)."

In addition to that news, IonQ announced a potentially important step toward commercializing its quantum systems. Its Superion 256 system will be installed in Nvidia's accelerated quantum research center to run as a niche processing system alongside Nvidia GPU (graphics processing unit) clusters.

That could lead to hybrid developments and create large-scale systems for AI use cases that include both GPU and quantum designs. That has investors feeling more confident about IonQ's future commercial success.

Howard Smith has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

IonQ Inc. NYSE: IONQ has already had an impressive run in 2026, despite shares being down by about 11% year to date (YTD).

IonQ Today

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Even as the broader quantum computing industry remains highly speculative, IonQ has built up an advantage: it has achieved major sales growth and revenue that lend some support to its premium valuation, with shares up over 250% over the last five years.

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The company has pulled ahead in some technological areas as well, including via its Capella acquisition, which shows its capacity to expand into defense, space, and sensing.

Now, IonQ is positioning itself to reap the benefits of another big win. In September 2026, IonQ and partners at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NVIDIA Corp. NASDAQ: NVDA demonstrated promising developments in using generative AI to aid the design of quantum circuits and other hardware, with major benefits for compilation runtime. The advancement could help to boost IonQ's prospects in the near term, even as other quantum firms are making compelling cases.

A Big Step Toward Commercial Use...But Not All the WayThe latest engineering feat achieved by this collaboration goes a long way to strengthen IonQ's argument that a hybrid model—utilizing both classical AI and quantum computing—may be a viable path toward improving quantum results. With generative AI helping to write quantum optimization circuits, IonQ may be able to bypass the lengthy, latency-filled trial-and-error approach that has governed this process for a long time.

A major accomplishment of the generative AI process is that it cut a circuit-finding runtime from 11 minutes or so to about 28 seconds for 12 qubits. This is huge, even aside from the quality increase in generated answers that also accompanied the time improvement. Faster computation means lower costs for commercial clients, and so IonQ's achievement here could have a material impact on its customer base.

The operative word there, however, is "could." Like many other advancements in the quantum computing space, by IonQ or by its competitors, excitement surrounding a technological achievement must also present a clear path to boosting revenue or other metrics in order to demonstrate its commercial relevance. To be sure, IonQ is already trouncing some of its competition in this regard, with a 287% year over year (YOY) revenue improvement last quarter alone. However, it's unclear when or exactly how the latest technological leap may impact its customers directly.

NVIDIA's Role in the TransformationNVIDIA Today

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The report detailing the accomplishments resulting from this collaboration highlighted that the results were achieved with a single NVIDIA H200 graphics processing unit (GPU) as part of an Oak Ridge supercomputer. The process also utilized NVIDIA's CUDA-Q open platform, among other tools. All of this may mean that, with the right computing hardware available, enterprise customers could use these same technologies.

NVIDIA's products are deeply embedded across multiple stages of this process, which could point to a lucrative path forward as a quantum hardware tollbooth for the mega-cap chip giant.

With NVIDIA primarily known now for its AI tools, this partial pivot could help inject new momentum and diversify the company's offerings.

Where Other Quantum Firms StandInvestors might add this latest accomplishment to the list of IonQ's strengths compared to its competitors, which also includes its large commercial customer base, its high-fidelity trapped-ion architecture, its growing number of partnerships with cloud companies and government agencies, and more.

Still, many rivals, including pure-play companies like D-Wave Quantum Inc. NASDAQ: QBTS and larger tech firms like IBM Corp. NYSE: IBM, are pursuing a variety of different architectures and technological approaches to these same issues. It is anyone's guess which might ultimately prove most competitive, even though IonQ may appear to be in the lead now.

In the meantime, while profitability remains elusive, IonQ has done a good job of managing its capital deliberately and strategically. It must continue to do so in order to have the opportunity to realize the potential of this development to its conclusion.

The firm reported an annual net loss of more than $510 million last year, a signal of just how expensive it is to run a quantum computing company that is investing heavily in advancing its technology. With no long-term debt and a current ratio of about 10.7, it appears positioned to maintain its strengths.

Should You Invest $1,000 in IonQ Right Now?Before you consider IonQ, you'll want to hear this.

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Key Takeaways IonQ's revenues jumped 287%, but its $120.3 million adjusted EBITDA loss highlights heavy investment.IonQ raised 2026 revenue guidance to $450-$460 million as RPO surged to $485 million.IonQ remains below both moving averages as Superion deliveries and key partnerships extend into 2027. As the third quarter of 2026 nears its end, the selloff in pure-play quantum computing stocks is increasingly looking like a valuation and commercialization reset. Since reporting second-quarter results, IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) shares have declined 7.3%. The company’s direct peers Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS - Free Report) have lost 10.6% and 16.2%, respectively.

The weakness is notable because the period has brought a steady stream of positive developments, including IonQ’s SkyWater integration, its new Superion 256 platform and expanded commercial agreements.

Stock Comparison Since IONQ's Q2 Earnings Release
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The problem is that strategic progress is arriving faster than financial monetization. IonQ's second-quarter revenues were up 287% year over year, but it still posted a $120.3 million adjusted EBITDA loss. Government support also validates quantum's strategic importance, but much of the funding is directed toward long-cycle R&D and infrastructure rather than immediately translating into recurring commercial revenues. The June White House quantum order itself emphasizes accelerating research, deployment and commercialization, indicating that the industry remains in a development phase.

Meanwhile, the macro backdrop has become less supportive of speculative, long-duration technology assets like quantum. On Sept. 16, the Federal Reserve raised rates to 3.75%-4.00% and indicated another hike could come in 2026, keeping discount rates and funding costs elevated. Against this backdrop, investors are increasingly focused on revenue growth, improving profitability and commercial adoption, rather than technological milestones or government funding alone. For pure-play quantum stocks like IONQ, the gap between strong technological progress and limited near-term financial returns continues to weigh on valuations.

IonQ's Growth Story Needs Stronger Commercial ExecutionAs the third quarter of 2026 (July -September) enters its final weeks, IonQ’s strong operating growth is yet to translate into a sustained stock-price recovery. The company’s Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) reached $485 million in the second quarter, up from $122 million a year earlier. On Sept. 8, IonQ raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $450-$460 million, including the SkyWater buyout, which was completed on July 31. The company also expects customer deliveries of its new Superion 256 platform in 2027.

Management noted that it is advancing multiple generations of semiconductor-based systems, including its path to 10,000 qubits in 2027. These milestones support the longer-term growth case, but they do not immediately change IonQ’s financial profile. The second-quarter adjusted EBITDA loss was $120.3 million, indicating the substantial investment still required to scale the platform.

A sustained stock-price reversal therefore may require evidence of commercial execution rather than additional technology announcements alone. IonQ has continued to build that evidence through the SkyWater acquisition, a $28 million DARPA contract extension and new government and enterprise relationships.

However, several developments remain longer-dated. Superion customer deliveries are slated for 2027, while some recently-declared partnerships are not included in RPO or 2026 revenue guidance because they remain at an early stage.

With the Fed rate now at 3.75%-4.00% and with the possibility of another 2026 hike, the macro backdrop also remains challenging for high-duration, loss-making technology stocks. For investors, the key is to focus on IonQ’s revenue conversion, RPO growth, loss trajectory and 2027 system deployments. A quick reversal is not yet clearly supported by these near-term financial indicators.

What's Next for IonQ: Q3 and Full-Year 2026 EstimatesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for IONQ’s third-quarter and 2026 EPS is pegged at a loss of 22 cents and a loss of $1.06 per share, respectively, implying 93.9% and 41.8% improvements over year-ago reported figures.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IonQ's 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Averages
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Technically, the chart shows IONQ is currently below its 50-day SMA and its 200-day SMA, indicating that the stock remains in a weak technical setup, with both short- and longer-term price trends tilted downward and shares yet to establish a sustained bullish reversal.

Conclusion: Hold or Sell the Stock Now?IonQ’s strong revenue growth, expanding RPO and technology roadmap show its long-term quantum opportunity, but the near-term setup remains clouded by heavy losses, commercialization risks and technical weakness. The stock’s position below both its 50-day and 200-day SMAs also suggests that a durable recovery is yet to take shape.

IONQ currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), reflecting unfavorable earnings-estimate trends and near-term expectations. Given the combination, investors may consider selling IONQ now and reassessing the shares once commercial execution and financial results provide clearer evidence of a sustained recovery.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways IonQ launched Superion 256, its sixth-generation platform and foundation for future compute products.IonQ cut chip design cycles to two months and delivered 12 times more wafer lots in six months.IONQ Superion 256 uses integrated electronic qubit control and scales from 256 qubits to millions. IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) has launched Superion 256, its sixth-generation quantum computing platform and the foundation for future compute products. The platform has moved from early design to trapping ions in under a year, with IonQ fabricating its first fully integrated 256-qubit quantum processing units (QPUs) at its SkyWater subsidiary. The company has also trapped the first ions in prototype Superion 256 systems, which are being built simultaneously at multiple U.S. facilities.

IonQ and SkyWater jointly designed and fabricated the chip, completing six tapeouts in the first half of 2026. Working with SkyWater’s quantum foundry, IonQ cut its design cycle to two months from nine months. The teams also delivered 12 times more wafer lots over six months than they did at a previous foundry.

At the core of Superion 256 is IonQ’s Electronic Qubit Control (“EQC”), which controls trapped-ion qubits with electronics integrated directly into the chip rather than with laser systems. The underlying qubit control is manufactured using standard semiconductor processes. The chip uses the same EQC technology that IonQ used to achieve a 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity world record in October 2025.

Designed for data center deployment, the system fits a standard server rack without requiring a bespoke buildout. It also uses less power than a rack of GPUs, while its cooling system is suited to typical data center environments.

The Superion platform scales from 256 qubits to millions of qubits. Every generation that follows Superion 256 expands use of the same ions, the same qubits, the same electronic control and the same chip fabric. Superion 10K is already underway and integrates CMOS into the chip, a scaling technique SkyWater already manufactures at volume.

IonQ is taking orders for Superion 256 now, with customer deliveries set for 2027. The company pre-sold its first system in the first quarter of 2026, while production-grade systems will also run on its cloud.

IONQ’s Peer UpdatesIBM (IBM - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin, through an offset agreement with armasuisse, Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement, have established a hub for quantum innovation at ETH Zurich, a public research university. The new hub plans to host the country’s first IBM Quantum System Two at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center in Lugano. The project also advances the strategic collaboration between the companies, combining Lockheed Martin innovations in quantum sensing and additive manufacturing with IBM’s expertise in quantum computing and AI.

Meanwhile, Arm Holdings plc (ARM - Free Report) has introduced CSS for Mobile 2, combining agentic AI and AI-native graphics in a single compute platform. CSS for Mobile 2 includes the new Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU, the Arm C2 CPU cluster with SME2, enhanced system IP, physical implementations and a developer-ready software ecosystem in a platform optimized for next-generation mobile devices.

The Zacks Rundown for IONQ StockOver the past year, IonQ shares have dropped 21.4% against the industry’s 97.9% surge.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ is trading at a forward earnings multiple of 36.15X compared with the 4.93X industry average. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Estimates for the company’s loss per share have widened over the past three months, as shown below.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

IonQ IONQ shares jumped 5% on Tuesday as the quantum computing company raised its 2026 revenue forecast following the integration of SkyWater Technologies.

IonQ now projects 2026 revenue of $450 million to $460 million, with the range including revenue from SkyWater. IonQ completed the acquisition on July 31, giving the company access to SkyWater's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

The company also released research detailing the resources required to run Shor's algorithm on a fault-tolerant quantum system. The work examines how applications can be adapted for trapped-ion quantum computers.

IonQ separately introduced Superion 256, its sixth-generation quantum platform. The chips were manufactured at SkyWater and are available for customer orders, with deliveries expected next year.

The updates give investors several areas to watch as IonQ combines its quantum technology with SkyWater's manufacturing operations. The higher revenue forecast also provides a new financial benchmark following the acquisition.

The raised outlook and product launch could support investor sentiment as the combined business moves toward commercial deliveries.

Quantum computing stocks have been one of the hottest trades in recent years. Emerging leaders IonQ (IONQ -7.68%), Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum are up between 20% and 50% from their April lows. Look out even further, and this trio has soared between 480% and 1,710% over the past two years. While IonQ is growing at blazing speeds, it's too hot for me to handle.

Here's why I'm not ready to buy this top quantum computing stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

There's a lot to like about IonQ I want to start by saying I'm genuinely intrigued by IonQ. The quantum computing company isn't all hype. It reported record revenues of more than $80 million in the second quarter, up an astonishing 287% year over year, driven by deployment across its entire quantum platform. That was its fifth straight quarter of delivering record results and the best quarter in its history.

That rapid growth should continue. IonQ recently raised its full-year guidance to between $280 million and $290 million. That doesn't reflect any contribution from its recent acquisition of SkyWater Technologies, which is creating the first vertically integrated, full-stack quantum platform.

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Why IonQ is too hot for me to handle Despite its massive revenue growth, IonQ is a long way from reaching profitability. Its total operating costs and expenses exceeded $417 million in the second quarter, more than five times its revenue. It has incurred a cumulative loss of $608.8 million from operations through the first six months of this year. While the company currently has a strong cash position ($2 billion after closing the SkyWater deal), it's burning through cash rather quickly. As a result, it will probably need to raise additional capital, which would dilute existing investors.

My other concern with IonQ is its valuation. The quantum computing company currently has a nearly $17 billion market cap following the more than 480% jump in its stock price over the past two years. That puts its valuation at over 55 times forward sales. While its revenue is growing rapidly, its valuation is rich. Stocks trading at lofty valuations tend to be very volatile, which has been the case with IonQ. The quantum computing stock has been down as much as 40% and up as much as 60% at various points this year.

This quantum computing stock isn't right for me IonQ is seeing real demand for its growing quantum platform, which it's expanding through acquisitions like SkyWater. It should continue to grow rapidly in the coming years as demand for this emerging technology increases. That has translated to a rich valuation for IonQ, which has become very volatile. It's also losing a lot of money. That makes it too risky for me. While I wouldn't touch IonQ right now, I would consider investing in a quantum computing ETF to gain exposure to this exciting sector while I wait for IonQ's losses to narrow and valuation to come down.

MOU establishes IonQ as a listed provider for the FABrIC Quantum Computing Sandbox, accelerating quantum research and enterprise adoption

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world’s leading quantum platform company, today announced a collaboration with Canadian Microelectronics Corporation, operating as CMC Microsystems. This collaboration integrates IonQ’s commercial trapped-ion quantum computing systems into Canada's FABrIC Quantum Computing Sandbox (QCS).

The framework for this initiative is covered under a newly signed memorandum of understanding (MOU), which designates IonQ as a listed cloud quantum computing access provider for the QCS. The QCS is operated through FABrIC, an initiative backed by funding from the Government of Canada's Strategic Response Fund (SRF) and managed by CMC Microsystems. The program aims to strengthen the nation's semiconductor and quantum industries by providing engineering support and cloud quantum computing access to Canadian academics and small-to-medium sized enterprises.

“Innovation moves faster when researchers and businesses can work with frontier quantum computing systems,” said Lisa Lambert, Vice President, Global Strategy & Managing Director, Canada at IonQ. “The FABrIC Quantum Computing Sandbox expands access to IonQ’s commercial technology so more Canadian researchers and businesses can start building quantum expertise and real capability now.”

“This is FABrIC's mandate in action: pairing a leading commercial quantum computing platform with the expertise to use it, so Canadian innovators can move from access to application,” said Gordon Harling, CEO of CMC Microsystems. “That's the outcome FABrIC was built to deliver."

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and foundry - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems. Earlier systems have helped customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve a 20x performance increase over previous quantum solutions and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before. Learn more at IonQ.com.

About CMC Microsystems

CMC Microsystems has been enabling advanced technology innovation in Canada for more than 40 years, managing federal and provincial investments to support research, accelerate commercialization, and strengthen Canada’s high‑tech ecosystem. With support from the Government of Canada, CMC leads FABrIC, a $217‑million initiative to build a vibrant and sustainable Canadian semiconductor ecosystem anchored by world‑class talent and global impact. www.cmc.ca | fabricinnovation.ca

IonQ Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this news release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the anticipated benefits, scope, timing and outcomes of IonQ's collaboration with CMC Microsystems; IonQ's designation as a listed cloud quantum computing access provider for the FABrIC Quantum Computing Sandbox; the expected availability, capabilities, performance and deployment of IonQ's quantum computing systems, including through the Quantum Computing Sandbox; expectations regarding the adoption and use of quantum computing by Canadian academic institutions, researchers and small- and medium-sized enterprises; the expected funding, continuation, scope and objectives of the FABrIC program and the Quantum Computing Sandbox; the potential applications, advantages and commercial viability of quantum computing; and IonQ's business plans, strategy, market position and growth opportunities in Canada and globally. These statements are only predictions based on our expectations and projections about future events as of the date of this news release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may prove incorrect, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, among others, those described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can management assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement we make. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

The memorandum of understanding described in this news release establishes a non-binding framework for collaboration. It does not obligate either party to enter into any definitive agreement, or to purchase, provide or deploy any products or services, and it may be terminated by either party. There can be no assurance that the memorandum of understanding will result in any definitive agreement, revenue, or any of the other benefits described in this news release.

Except as otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

I've been hearing whispers on social media that quantum computing is "the new artificial intelligence," and IonQ (IONQ -0.12%) is one of the names they're considering. Where the stock will be in five years depends less on this summer's rally and more on whether the company can turn today's momentum into a durable, scaled business while the quantum computing hype cycle plays out.

IonQ's August numbers are undeniably impressive. For Q2 2026, the company reported record GAAP revenue of $80.1 million, up 287% year over year and roughly 20% above the midpoint of its own guidance. That made it the strongest quarter in IonQ's history and its fifth straight period of record results, driven by global deployments of its Tempo quantum computers, strong cloud utilization, and broader platform usage. Remaining performance obligations jumped to about $485 million, up nearly 300% from a year ago, and management raised full‑year revenue guidance to $280 million to $290 million, with a goal of 100% organic growth in 2026.

Image source: Getty Images.

IonQ is just getting started At the same time, this is still an early‑stage business under the hood. IonQ posted a GAAP net loss of $1.87 billion in Q2, largely due to a non‑cash charge tied to remeasuring earn‑outs and contingent consideration from the SkyWater acquisition. Adjusted EBITDA stood at negative $120 million, even though cash, equivalents, and investments were a hefty $3.0 billion before the deal and roughly $2.0 billion pro forma. That mix -- rapid revenue growth, big backlog, but large losses and heavy investment -- is exactly what you'd expect from a company trying to build a new computing stack, but it also makes the stock inherently volatile.

What makes IonQ interesting in the "quantum is the new AI" narrative is how directly it ties the two together. CEO Niccolo de Masi has been explicit that the next race is not AI versus quantum, but AI plus quantum working together to accelerate discovery. IonQ's own research on "quantum fine‑tuning" shows that trapped‑ion hardware acting as an energy‑efficient layer on top of classical AI models, with a projected energy break‑even around 34 qubits, speaks directly to AI's power and cost problem.

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On the applications side, IonQ is pushing into quantum security, communications, and sensing -- from ClavisXG multiplexed key distribution to an on‑orbit optical communications network and a TN quantum memory testbed -- while DARPA is tapping it for next‑generation atomic clocks.

Five-year considerations The five‑year question is whether all this turns into a business that looks more like today's AI leaders or more like a perpetual "science project." In my view, the most realistic expectation is somewhere in the middle. If IonQ keeps doubling revenue and expanding its platform, it could be a much larger, more diverse quantum services company by 2031, with production workloads in optimization, materials, and security.

But the stock will likely remain sensitive to delays in fault‑tolerant hardware, competition from larger players, and the inevitable shake‑out when some "quantum is the new AI" promises prove premature.

Quantum Earnings Week: Winners and Losers Are Finally EmergingIonQ NYSE: IONQ reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $80.1 million, up 287% from a year earlier, as the quantum computing company cited demand for its fifth-generation systems and broader momentum across computing, networking, security, sensing and space-related products.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Niccolo de Masi said the result marked IonQ’s strongest quarter to date and its fifth consecutive quarter of record results. Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Inder Singh said revenue exceeded the company’s own expectations by 20%.

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IonQ Sparks a Quantum Grid RevolutionThe company raised its full-year revenue outlook for IonQ on a standalone basis to $280 million to $290 million. The guidance does not include the financial results of SkyWater Technology, which IonQ acquired last week for $1.8 billion. Management said it needs more time to integrate operations and account for intercompany revenue and other transaction-related adjustments before issuing combined-company guidance.

Deployments and revenue mix Singh said the primary contributor to the quarter’s outperformance was deployment activity for IonQ’s fifth-generation quantum computing systems. The company began shipping subsystems to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, or KISTI, with equipment being delivered and assembled at the customer site in South Korea.

Quantum Earnings Could Decide Whether the Sector’s Sell-Off Has Gone Too FarIonQ also said its fifth-generation system is in final assembly at QuantumBasel in Switzerland, alongside a previously purchased fourth-generation system. Singh described the installation as what the company believes is the first commercial deployment of two successive generations of quantum computers at the same customer site.

Organic revenue grew 132% year over year in the second quarter, according to Singh. IonQ continued to expect approximately 100% organic revenue growth for the full year.

About 50% of quarterly revenue came from international customers, including customers in Australia, South Korea, Portugal, India, Denmark, Germany, Israel and Japan. Commercial customers, defined as non-U.S. government customers, represented about 60% of revenue. Sales involving more than one product grew 40% year over year and accounted for roughly 25% of quarterly revenue. Remaining performance obligations totaled $485 million at quarter-end, compared with $470 million in the first quarter and $122 million a year earlier. Singh said IonQ is pursuing cross-selling opportunities, particularly combinations of quantum computing and quantum security products. He also pointed to quantum computing as a service and software and algorithm-development work as components of the company’s offering.

SkyWater acquisition and semiconductor roadmap IonQ completed its acquisition of SkyWater last week, adding semiconductor fabrication capabilities to its platform. De Masi said the combination gives the company onshore design, fabrication, packaging and deployment capabilities at trusted U.S. facilities.

The company is transitioning its trapped-ion quantum computing architecture from laser-based control to electronic qubit control, technology it obtained through its acquisition of Oxford Ionics. De Masi said the approach is intended to use semiconductor manufacturing processes to scale systems toward millions of qubits.

During the quarter, IonQ received its first fully featured and integrated quantum processing units from SkyWater. The chips are undergoing testing at IonQ’s College Park facility. De Masi said the prototypes consolidate capabilities tested in earlier prototypes and will allow the company to begin evaluating integrated systems.

IonQ plans to begin commissioning systems based on its 256-qubit technology in 2027. The company said it is also advancing designs for a 10,000-qubit chip. De Masi said the company expects to begin manufacturing-line preparations, system deployment and customer commissioning in the first half of next year.

Management also highlighted IonQ’s “walking cat” architecture, which it released in April as a manufacturable blueprint for a fault-tolerant quantum computer. During the quarter, IonQ said it demonstrated breakeven quantum error correction using QLDPC codes on a temporal engineering test system.

Although SkyWater will support IonQ’s own hardware roadmap, de Masi said the foundry will continue operating as a merchant supplier to the broader quantum industry. He said IonQ intends to maintain intellectual-property protections for foundry customers across quantum modalities, including superconducting, photonic, ion and atom-based systems.

IonQ also discussed its acquisition of Nexus Photonics, a University of California, Santa Barbara spinoff whose technology supports chip-scale integration of lasers, modulators and optical subsystems. The company said it has started integrating those capabilities into next-generation atomic clocks and gravimeters and plans to offer quantum photonics foundry services through SkyWater.

Expenses, loss and quantum-security initiatives GAAP operating expenses were $417.3 million in the quarter, while non-GAAP operating expenses were $201.2 million. Research and development accounted for $160.6 million of GAAP operating expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA was negative $120.3 million. Singh said the figure included approximately $20 million in additional SkyWater-related spending as IonQ accelerated its technology roadmap, including about $10 million associated with pre-integration costs, business scaling and supply-chain efforts.

IonQ reported a GAAP net loss of $1.9 billion, primarily driven by a roughly $1.6 billion non-cash mark-to-market impact from warrant valuations. Singh said the warrant-related accounting impact did not reflect the company’s operating fundamentals.

On security, de Masi said IonQ launched a quantum key distribution product designed to allow customers to transmit multiple data types over existing municipal fiber networks. The company said its security strategy combines post-quantum cryptography with quantum communications technologies such as QKD.

Management said it is seeing increased customer discussion around quantum-related cybersecurity risks following U.S. quantum executive orders issued in June. Singh said conversations are expanding beyond computing use cases to include network vulnerability assessments and security planning for a post-quantum environment.

IonQ said it will provide updates across its quantum platform at an Investor Day scheduled for Sept. 8 at the New York Stock Exchange.

About IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)IonQ, Inc engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems in the United States. It sells access to quantum computers of various qubit capacities. The company makes access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Braket, Microsoft's Azure Quantum, and Google's Cloud Marketplace, as well as through its cloud service. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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Customer conversations, management said, increasingly open not with what quantum computing can do, but with how to protect sensitive data once quantum machines can break today’s encryption. If that trend holds, quantum security could grow into a driver as significant as IonQ’s core computing business.

Chief Operating Officer and CFO Inder Singh noticed the change in discussions with enterprise customers and government agencies.

“A year ago it was about computing. Now it’s about computing,” Singh said. “But equally, how can you protect me from the inevitable?”

Security Becomes A Recurring Theme In Customer Meetings“Quantum security now enters into the discussion,” Singh said, adding that organizations increasingly want to understand not only how quantum computing can create new capabilities, but also how it could expose them to future cybersecurity threats.

Earlier in the call, Singh also noted that “more and more customers are talking about security,” suggesting demand is expanding beyond IonQ’s traditional quantum computing offerings.

Together, those comments point to a broader shift in how the company views its opportunity. Rather than simply selling quantum computing systems, IonQ increasingly sees an opportunity to help customers prepare for the security challenges that widespread quantum computing could eventually bring.

Preparing for a Post-Quantum WorldThe concern stems from the possibility that future quantum computers could become powerful enough to break many of today’s widely used encryption methods, which protect everything from financial transactions to government communications.

Although experts continue to debate when that point might arrive, IonQ executives said many organizations are no longer treating the issue as a distant research topic. Instead, they are beginning to plan for what the industry often calls a “post-quantum” world—a future in which existing cybersecurity tools may no longer provide adequate protection.

That changing mindset, management suggested, is creating demand not only for quantum computers, but also for technologies designed to secure data before that transition occurs.

IonQ Is Expanding Its Quantum Security BusinessAs part of that strategy, CEO Niccolo De Masi highlighted the company’s newest Quantum Key Distribution, or QKD, product.

“We launched a new QKD product… making enterprise-grade quantum security practical, deployable and cheaper to operate,” De Masi said.

Quantum Key Distribution is a communication technology that uses the principles of quantum physics to create encryption keys. Because any attempt to intercept those keys changes the underlying quantum signals, the technology can help detect eavesdropping, offering an additional layer of protection for sensitive communications.

Management also said recent White House executive orders focused on quantum technologies have increased engagement around quantum-safe security. Organizations are evaluating how to protect critical infrastructure before quantum computing becomes powerful enough to threaten existing encryption.

For investors, the takeaway extends beyond IonQ’s quantum computing roadmap. The company still generates most of its business from quantum computing, but management’s comments suggest it increasingly sees quantum security as a complementary growth engine.

If customers continue shifting from asking what quantum computers can do to asking how to defend against them, cybersecurity could become one of IonQ’s most important long-term opportunities.

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IonQ shares are moving after hours. What’s happening with IONQ stock? IonQ Key Q2 DetailsIonQ turned in second-quarter revenue of $80.05 million, beating analyst estimates of $49.74 million. The quantum computing company posted a second-quarter adjusted loss of 33 cents per share, beating estimates for a loss of 35 cents per share, according to Benzinga Pro.

Total revenue was up 287% on a year-over-year basis, driven by global deployments of IonQ Tempo quantum computers, strong cloud utilization and broad-based commercial momentum across the company’s quantum platform.

IonQ exited the quarter with approximately $3 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments. The company noted that its cash position decreased to $2 billion after completing the SkyWater acquisition last month.

“I am pleased to report that IonQ delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of record results and the strongest quarter in our company’s history,” said Niccolo de Masi, CEO of IonQ.

“We enter the second half of the year confident in IonQ’s ability to execute our quantum platform roadmap, translate our technology leadership into durable commercial growth, and create long-term value for shareholders.”

IonQ raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook from a range of $260 million to $270 million to a new range of $280 million to $290 million, versus estimates of $235.71 million.

IonQ’s management team will discuss the company’s quarterly results on an earnings call at 4:30 p.m. ET.

IONQ Shares Climb After The BellIonQ shares were up 0.93% after-hours on Wednesday, trading at $40.30 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Image: courtesy of IonQ.

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