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Shares in the five most prominent quantum computing companies are rising today despite a larger market pullback. The stock price jump in the companies controlling the nascent technology comes after three of the companies secured hundreds of millions in funding from the U.S. government.

IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript

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IonQ (IONQ +2.40%), a full-stack quantum computing systems provider, closed at $40.47, up 2.40%. Shares rose after IonQ raised 2026 revenue guidance and secured a quantum security deal.
Trading volume reached 36.9 million shares, coming in about 73% above its three-month average of 21.3 million shares. IonQ IPO'd in 2021 and has grown 275% since going public.

How the markets moved todayThe S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.58%) closed at 7,674, down 0.58%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.32%) closed at 26,421, down 0.32%. Among quantum computing hardware and cloud-access services peers, Rigetti Computing (RGTI +4.01%) closed at $15.81, up 4.01%, and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS +6.57%) closed at $17.67, up 6.57%, as investors kept favoring the group.

What this means for investorsIonQ provided some updates for its Investor Day today. The quantum computing platform and foundry raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $450 million to $460 million after the closing of its SkyWater Technology acquisition on July 31. IonQ's prior estimate for 2026 revenue was for a midpoint of $285 million.

The company also announced an $8.18 million quantum security deal with Congruity360, which it called "one of the largest commercial quantum-security agreements in the United States to date."

IonQ's Investor Day presentation highlighted the company's size relative to its peers, noting that Q2 revenue of $80 million was nearly twice the combined revenue of all other quantum computing companies.

Even so, at this early stage of commercializing the technology, investors may be well-suited to create a basket of holdings in the quantum space.

Howard 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.

3 Lesser-Known Quantum Plays the Market May Be Overlooking Right NowIonQ NYSE: IONQ used its 2026 Investor Day to outline an expanded quantum technology strategy following the closing of its merger with SkyWater Technology, positioning the combined business around quantum computing, security, sensing, networking and semiconductor manufacturing.

Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi said the SkyWater transaction makes IonQ vertically integrated and adds merchant manufacturing capacity to its platform. He said the company had been on track to generate “the better part of $300 million” in quantum-platform revenue before the deal closed and described SkyWater as a way to accelerate IonQ’s technology roadmap while supporting the broader U.S. and allied quantum ecosystem.

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Superion Platform and Computing Roadmap MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/31 - 09/04IonQ introduced its Superion quantum-computing product line, which President of Quantum Computing Chris Ballance said is designed to scale from hundreds of qubits to thousands and eventually millions of qubits. The company expects initial Superion 256 systems to begin deploying at customer sites in early 2027.

Ballance said Superion replaces laser-based qubit control with electronics integrated into the chip, a design IonQ calls Electronic Qubit Control. The approach is intended to simplify manufacturing, improve reliability and support data-center deployment. He said IonQ is already producing Superion 256 chips by the wafer at SkyWater and has placed ion qubits into prototype systems.

These 3 Stock Charts Just Flashed the Dreaded Death Cross PatternIonQ also highlighted its “Walking Cat” fault-tolerant quantum-computing architecture. The company said it has completed what it described as the first full end-to-end compilation of Shor’s algorithm and calculated that a system using about 19,397 physical qubits could recover a 256-bit elliptic-curve key. Executives characterized the work as a reason organizations should accelerate adoption of quantum-safe security.

Quantum Security, Networking and Sensing Jordan Shapiro, president and general manager of IonQ’s Quantum Platform, said the company sees a convergence of more capable quantum systems and shorter government migration deadlines for quantum security. He cited a U.S. executive order that, according to his remarks, moved the U.S. migration timeline from 2035 to 2030.

Shapiro said IonQ offers quantum security posture management, post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution capabilities. He announced a major agreement with Congruity360 for an enterprise rollout of quantum security in the U.S., which he said is, to IonQ’s knowledge, the largest deal of its kind in the country.

The company also reported progress in networking and sensing. Mihir Bhaskar, senior vice president of global R&D, said IonQ has developed a photonic quantum interconnect exceeding one kilohertz, which he said is fast enough to support distributed quantum computation. The company said the result combines its trapped-ion computing technology with quantum memory technology acquired through Lightsynq Technologies.

Shapiro also discussed a hybrid quantum-classical workflow using synthetic aperture radar data, saying IonQ’s quantum computing approach identified structural changes in imagery with less noise than the classical models shown during the presentation. He said IonQ’s quantum sensing portfolio includes optical clocks, time-transfer devices, gravimeters and gyroscopes for positioning, navigation and timing applications.

SkyWater Manufacturing Strategy SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman said the foundry has thousands of quantum wafers running through its fabrication operations, with about one-third tied to IonQ. He said SkyWater has nine quantum customers following the announcement of Qolab as a customer and emphasized that the company would protect each customer’s intellectual property and keep customer programs compartmentalized.

IonQ and SkyWater also announced dedicated quantum foundry platforms for integrated photonics and superconducting electronics. Bhaskar said the Nexus Photonics acquisition adds integrated photonics design and integration capabilities that can reduce the size, weight, power and manufacturing complexity of quantum sensing and networking systems.

Qolab CEO Alan Ho said his company is working with SkyWater on its SC250 process, which he said is intended to bring superconducting quantum components into an integrated package and support predictable manufacturing economics.

Financial Outlook and Customer Engagement Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Inder Singh reaffirmed IonQ’s prior 2026 revenue guidance of $280 million to $290 million. He said SkyWater is expected to contribute $240 million of revenue for the five months IonQ will own the business in 2026, before eliminating $70 million of intercompany revenue. That produced combined 2026 revenue guidance of $450 million to $460 million.

Singh said IonQ plans to report its business in categories including quantum hardware, quantum services, CMOS semiconductor foundry, and quantum foundry and advanced technologies. He said the company would provide more detail on EBITDA after its auditors review the combined results.

During customer panels, ServiceNow Innovation Officer and Quantum Lead John Licata said the company is exploring quantum security and quantum-plus-AI optimization workflows. EPB President of Strategic Initiatives Robert Long said its IonQ Forte Enterprise system was nearing commissioning in Chattanooga, where EPB is building a quantum ecosystem around energy-grid optimization and security. Natera Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Matt Rabinowitz discussed potential future uses of quantum and AI in healthcare, including protein modeling, cancer applications and disease prediction.

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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COLLEGE PARK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world's leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, today published the first complete, end-to-end fault-tolerant resource estimate for running Shor's algorithm. The historic paper by IonQ's research team uses the recently published Walking Cat architecture to demonstrate how a specific application can be optimized for a trapped-ion quantum computer. This work concludes that a 20,000-physical-qubit IonQ quantum computer is expected.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world's leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, and Congruity360, a leading unstructured data management and governance provider, today announced an $8.18 million agreement. Under the collaboration, Congruity360 will broaden its enterprise data management platform with a quantum-safe network using IonQ's PQC and QKD appliances, protecting sensitive enterprise data for clients across the U.S. This is among the largest co.

Shares of IonQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ) are enjoying a 9.4% surge, trading $43.23 this morning after the quantum company hiked its full-year guidance.

Quantum computing company IonQ (IONQ +1.28%) hosts an investor day on Tuesday, Sept. 8. And I expect the event to produce something the company has never put in its guidance: a revenue forecast that reaches beyond the current year.

Second-quarter revenue rose 287% year over year to about $80 million, the company's fifth consecutive quarter of record results, up from about $65 million in the first quarter of this year. And management has raised its 2026 revenue guidance twice, from an initial range of $225 million to $245 million in February to $280 million to $290 million today.

But every one of those figures stops at Dec. 31. Meanwhile, shares trade near $39 as of this writing, giving IonQ a market value of about $15.5 billion -- about 54 times the midpoint of this year's guided sales.

In other words, the years actually supporting the price are years management has never guided to. My prediction is that this changes on Tuesday.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Good guidance, short horizonIonQ's record as a forecaster is strong. The company delivered $130 million of revenue in 2025, up 202% year over year and 20% above the midpoint of its own guidance. That result, the company says, made it the first public quantum company to top $100 million in annual GAAP revenue.

What management has never done is put a year beyond the current one into its guidance. Even at the second-quarter report in early August, with the company's $1.8 billion acquisition of chipmaker SkyWater Technology closed just days earlier, management went no further than the current year.

"Because we have operated as a combined company for less than a week, we need to integrate our operations before providing combined company revenue or EBITDA guidance," said Inder Singh, IonQ's chief operating officer and chief financial officer, on the earnings call.

Singh did sketch a timeline, to be fair. Investors, he suggested, could get "color at Analyst Day perhaps, but certainly at the close of quarter."

The full combined-company numbers, in short, may wait for the third-quarter report.

Why Tuesday?The SkyWater deal practically demands a longer view. SkyWater generated $442 million of revenue in fiscal 2025, more than three times what IonQ itself produced that year. A multiyear frame lets management describe the much larger combined business on its own terms.

The technical roadmap already reaches years out, too. Not only has IonQ committed publicly to 800 logical qubits in 2027, up from a 2026 milestone of just 12, but it has also promised 2 million physical qubits supporting 80,000 logical qubits by 2030.

A company willing to publish engineering milestones four years ahead, while never guiding to what those machines could earn, has left an obvious gap. An investor day seems like the natural place to fill it.

The market has already picked a numberIonQ's market value sits near $15.5 billion. At 15 times sales (a sales multiple usually reserved for the fastest-growing software companies), supporting today's price takes about $1 billion of annual revenue. IonQ's 2026 guidance midpoint is $285 million. Double that in 2027 and again in 2028, and revenue reaches about $1.1 billion -- at which point the stock, at today's value, would still trade at roughly 14 times sales. Put another way, a multiyear range that satisfies this market has to promise the doubling continues.

And profits can't fill the gap in the meantime. IonQ's non-GAAP (adjusted) EBITDA loss, a rough measure of underlying operating losses, more than tripled year over year in the second quarter, widening to about $120 million -- larger than the quarter's entire revenue.

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Until that swings, the top line is what investors have to go on.

Ultimately, I expect a formal IonQ revenue number beyond 2026 to land on Tuesday, likely a multiyear frame for the combined company instead of a single 2027 figure. Of course, the honest risk to that call is Singh's own timeline. But management has spent years beating its own forecasts, and its published roadmap already runs to 2030.

A multiyear number would be welcome. It would hand investors a guidance yardstick beyond the current year, something a $15.5 billion valuation arguably should have had all along.

It wouldn't make me a buyer, though. At about 54 times this year's guided sales, the growth stock's price already assumes something spectacular. I'd stay on the sidelines for now.

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Owning IonQ (IONQ -0.37%) has been rather jarring, given how much the share price has bounced around over the past year. Shares are trading near $39, valuing the stock at roughly $15 billion. The stock has traded as high as $84 over the past 12 months.

But those looking for IonQ stock to rally to new all-time highs might not want to hold their breath. Here's why I believe IonQ will still be trading at around the same price in one year that it is today.

It looks like the stock should be rising To be clear, IonQ is doing some good things. The company reported $80.1 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2026, a whopping 287% increase versus a year ago. That's impressive growth, even if it's on top of a small number.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Additionally, IonQ recently acquired SkyWater, a chip foundry that generated $317.1 million in revenue through the first half of 2026, for $1.8 billion in cash and stock.

Management is guiding for full-year revenue of $280 million to $290 million. On top of that, SkyWater could do about $600 million this year if it performs the same over the second half of 2026. Hypothetically, that could put IonQ at about $900 million in total revenue this year.

The stock currently trades at about 57 times its trailing-12-month revenue. If you use that $900 million figure, the forward valuation drops way down to about 16 to 17 times sales, and IonQ suddenly looks dramatically cheaper.

So then, why the skepticism? Simply put, IonQ remains an unprofitable business with a ton of unanswered questions.

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IonQ reported a $254.7 million operating loss through six months of 2026. SkyWater fared better, posting an operating loss of just $3.3 million. Still, that business had a gross profit margin of only about 21%. It's unclear how much SkyWater can actually contribute to IonQ's bottom line in the near future.

Meanwhile, IonQ's share count is soaring. The SkyWater acquisition added approximately 24 million new shares, and the company is issuing gobs of stock-based compensation -- about $450 million over the past year alone.

The quantum computing field is still just getting started. It's too soon to know where IonQ will ultimately stand among its peers. And since IonQ has made a handful of acquisitions over the past few years, it's going to be trying to establish itself in a breakthrough industry while juggling the headaches of integrating all of these different businesses.

Add it all up, and there are several reasons to hesitate before paying up to own IonQ stock.

That could be why the stock has struggled to gain traction lately, despite the SkyWater deal. I think there's a reasonable chance that IonQ needs more time to sort all of these moving parts and establish greater trust with investors. Until then, the stock may stay near its current level.

Joint test on IonQ Forte hardware lands within 4% of benchmark, clearing the chemical-accuracy bar for enzyme active-site modeling via Amazon Braket

, /PRNewswire/ -- QC Ware today announced a technology demonstration of a hybrid quantum-classical chemistry workflow using its Promethium® platform and IonQ's Forte trapped-ion quantum computer via Amazon Braket.

The demonstration modeled the heme active site of cytochrome P450nor, a nitric oxide reductase in the cytochrome P450 superfamily — the same superfamily whose monooxygenase members carry out most human drug metabolism. By pairing GPU-accelerated classical pre-processing in Promethium with quantum measurements on IonQ Forte, the workflow calculated electrostatic interaction energy within 0.5 kcal/mol (~4%) of classical benchmarks. This falls well inside the 1 kcal/mol threshold for chemical accuracy and delivers more than double the accuracy of the standard classical mean-field method. For the biopharma industry, more accurately calculating electrostatic interaction energy, a major factor in how tightly a drug candidate binds to its target, at complex metal centers such as the iron site in P450nor, could improve candidate ranking and help identify metabolic risks earlier in the drug-discovery process.

"Running the same hybrid workflow on IonQ's trapped-ion architecture, following our recent demonstration on other quantum hardware, shows that Promethium's approach to combining classical and quantum computing is not tied to a single type of quantum hardware," said Dr. Kin-Joe Sham, Co-Founder and COO at QC Ware. "We believe this hardware-agnostic approach gives researchers flexibility as quantum computing continues to mature."

"Every month spent advancing a drug candidate on flawed metabolic data is wasted time and mounting risk," said Scott Millard, Chief Business Officer at IonQ. "QC Ware and IonQ have shown that hybrid quantum-classical workflows can predict certain binding behavior accurately enough for discovery teams to confidently rank candidates and catch toxicity risks early. We believe that's real quantum impact on real health outcomes. I can't wait to see what this partnership delivers."

Technical Highlights:

Promethium Preprocessing: Promethium built and preprocessed a complex 115-atom model of the P450nor active site containing over 1,000 molecular orbitals. It automatically isolated the strongly correlated region down to a 4-orbital active space mapped onto 8 qubits, which IonQ Forte measured in a single basis before returning results for Promethium to compute final interaction energies classically. Hardware Architecture: IonQ Forte's all-to-all qubit connectivity enabled complex two-qubit entangling gates to execute as designed without the routing overhead or additional error typical of limited-connectivity architectures. Biopharma Impact: Accurately predicting binding energy at iron sites in enzymes like P450nor could enable pharmaceutical researchers to better rank drug candidates and identify metabolic risks earlier in the R&D pipeline. Supported in part by Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud compute credits, the demonstration highlights how QC Ware's cloud-native Promethium® platform can potentially allow classical GPU clusters to seamlessly connect with cloud quantum computing resources on Amazon Braket.

Available today, Promethium's GPU-native architecture enables researchers to apply quantum chemistry across larger molecular systems and more compounds than has traditionally been practical. For selected workloads, Promethium runs demanding calculations up to 20× faster than conventional CPU-based DFT platforms, helping researchers generate molecular-level insights in hours instead of weeks and accelerating decision-making across drug discovery, catalysis, and materials science.

Media contact: [email protected] 

About QC Ware

QC Ware is a quantum computing software company. We are developing applications that unlock the power of quantum computing for drug discovery, material design and other industry verticals. Our Promethium platform provides GPU-accelerated quantum chemistry for molecular modeling and drug discovery, helping customers to make better discovery decisions today while exploring the hybrid quantum-classical workflows of tomorrow. QC Ware also organizes and hosts Q2B quantum computing conferences in Japan, Europe and the United States.

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 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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements relating to QC Ware's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the impact of hybrid quantum-classical chemistry workflows on the drug discovery process and the potential for Promethium to drive such impact. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of QC Ware's management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; the rapid evolution of quantum computing and flaws or errors in Promethium or flaws in or misuse of quantum computing in general; and risks related to working with quantum hardware providers.

SOURCE QC Ware Corp.

Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,708,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,271,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of IonQ by 96.5% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 125,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after purchasing an additional 61,656 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 62,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 14,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $981,000. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Key IonQ News Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

Positive Sentiment: IonQ subsidiary Skyloom Global reported that its optical communications terminals have reached 84 on-orbit installations aboard satellites supporting the U.S. Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The deployment strengthens IonQ’s expansion beyond quantum computing into space-based, secure communications and may provide an additional long-term revenue opportunity. IonQ’s Skyloom Optical Communications Terminals Reach 84 On-Orbit Installations Following Latest Launch Positive Sentiment: Coverage also highlighted IonQ’s progress in satellite optical communications and expanded quantum access in Canada. These developments support the company’s commercialization narrative and diversify its potential applications beyond research-focused quantum computing. IonQ Puts 84 Space Terminals In Orbit And Expands Canada Quantum Access Neutral Sentiment: Comparative analyses noted IonQ’s revenue growth of more than 200% and stronger commercialization progress versus some peers. However, Quantum Computing Inc. was viewed favorably on smaller absolute losses, while QUBT received attention for strategic expansion and substantial implied analyst price-target upside. These comparisons may limit enthusiasm for IonQ despite its stronger growth profile. IonQ vs. Quantum Computing Inc.: Which Quantum Computing Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026? IONQ vs. QUBT: Which Quantum Computing Stock Led in Q2 Earnings? Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether IonQ’s valuation is justified after a roughly 349.5% five-year return. Commentary cited expensive book-value metrics and the need for durable cash-flow growth, increasing sensitivity to execution and volatility. IonQ Stock May Be Rich On Book Value Yet Strong On Returns Negative Sentiment: Quantum stocks broadly unwound an earlier revenue-driven rally, with IonQ among the sector’s decliners as investors demanded clearer evidence of commercial-scale adoption. Reports also flagged insider activity and an estimated $863 million of selling across several quantum companies, adding to sentiment pressure. Quantum Stocks Unwind a Revenue-Headline Rally Insiders at IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave Have Put Wall Street on Notice IonQ Trading Down 8.4% Shares of IonQ stock opened at $41.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a PE ratio of -8.81 and a beta of 3.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.22. IonQ, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.89 and a 12 month high of $84.64. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.23. The company had revenue of $80.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.47 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 22.29% and a negative net margin of 553.27%.IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 286.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.70) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 2,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $151,690.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,444,692.16. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $209,863.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,408,941.48. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,329 shares of company stock valued at $513,216. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have issued reports on IONQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.92.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on IONQ

IonQ Profile (Free Report)

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.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than IonQ Visa Just Put Hims & Hers in the Penalty Box—Here’s Why It Matters Treasury Yields Are Surging Again: 3 Stocks That Could Feel the Pain Snowflake Could Be Headed for New Highs Despite Insider Selling MongoDB Is Surging—And the Next Catalyst Is Almost Here Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IONQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ – Free Report).

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IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world's leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, today announced the appointment of two new board members: technology finance exp

The Defiance Quantum ETF has crushed the market in 2026, and plenty of investors are now eyeing a swap into the pure-play name everyone keeps talking about. The trade looks obvious until you actually run the numbers.

The Defiance Quantum ETF (NYSEARCA:QTUM) has become the default way to buy the quantum theme. It is up 40.5% year to date against the S&P 500’s 14.1%, assets have crossed roughly $6 billion, and the fund carries a 0.40% expense ratio. QTUM’s run is drawing new attention, and much of that attention arrives with a question: why hold a basket when a name like IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) sits inside the basket and represents the pure-play version of the same bet? The temptation is to trade QTUM for the single stock. The numbers argue against it.

QTUM tracks an equal-weight index of roughly 70 to 75 companies touching quantum computing, machine learning, and advanced computing hardware. Equal weighting is the important part. No single holding dominates, and rebalancing forces the fund to trim winners and add to laggards. That mechanic is why QTUM has captured the theme without living or dying on any one chip roadmap.

Why the Single-Stock Swap Looks Tempting IonQ is probably the name you hear the most in quantum computing right now. Their second-quarter revenue came in at $80.1 million, a 287% year-over-year jump, and management already bumped full-year guidance up to a range of $280 million to $290 million. Remaining performance obligations ended the quarter at $485 million, up from just $122 million a year earlier. Right before the earnings report, the company closed its $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater, which gives it a domestic quantum foundry, and CEO Niccolo de Masi called it “the strongest quarter in our company’s history.” The narrative is definitely real. Even Reddit sentiment on the name sits at a quarterly average score of 74, which is categorized as bullish.

Where the Numbers Stop Cooperating Concentrated bets on a theme only pay when the concentrated bet outperforms the theme, which has not been the case in 2026. Year-to-date through August 24, IonQ shares are down 8.49%, going from $44.87 at the end of 2025 to $41.06. Over the same window, QTUM returned 34.49% on a total-return basis. On a one-year view, IonQ is up 3.22% while QTUM is up 57.75%. A holder who sold QTUM at the start of 2026 to concentrate in IonQ gave up more than 40 percentage points of return in eight months, on the exact thesis they were trying to express.

The broader quantum fund captured gains from adjacent semiconductor, HPC, and quantum-hardware names, while the pure-play name absorbed dilution from a $2 billion equity offering, warrant remeasurement, and the SkyWater deal. The company reported a Q2 GAAP net loss of $1.87 billion, driven largely by a roughly $1.6 billion non-cash warrant mark, plus $141.8 million of stock-based compensation in that same quarter. Trailing P/E sits at negative 33, and operating margin is negative 487%. None of that invalidates the roadmap or the long-term story, but it does explain why the stock has lagged the very theme it defines.

What the Swap Would Actually Change Trading QTUM for IonQ is a dramatic move. You are compressing exposure from roughly 70 companies down to just one, and that changes your risk profile in three very specific ways. First, revenue concentration. IonQ’s entire FY2026 revenue guide of $280 million to $290 million is just a fraction of the combined revenue sitting inside QTUM’s broader index. Second, balance-sheet volatility. Just warrant marks alone can create billion-dollar swings in reported GAAP earnings from one quarter to the next, so earnings reports become a wild ride. Third, timeline risk. IonQ’s 256-qubit system is targeted for commissioning in the first half of 2027, with 10,000-qubit chips beginning tape-out. A slip on either of those milestones pushes the story right and the stock along with it.

QTUM’s 0.40% fee is not free, and equal weighting can lag in years when one mega-cap runs away from the field. Neither drag has shown up in the 2026 return profile.

How to Think About It From Here For a holder who owns QTUM as a diversified quantum sleeve, the case for a full swap into IonQ is weak on the evidence. A partial position, sized as a satellite around a QTUM core, is a different conversation. It preserves basket exposure while adding concentrated upside if IonQ hits its 2027 milestones. Taxable holders would also face a capital gain from selling QTUM after its run, which can absorb a meaningful portion of any expected edge from the switch.

Weighing the Trade Right Now The field has been beating the stock-picker in 2026 by roughly the width of QTUM’s outperformance over IonQ. Investors who bought QTUM for diversified quantum exposure are getting exactly what they paid for. Trading it for a single name, however compelling that name’s roadmap, is a different investment. The right question is whether the marginal dollar belongs in the basket that has already worked or in a name that needs its next milestone to catch up.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

A freshly listed quantum company just landed a multimillion-dollar NASA contract that sent its stock surging well past the broader quantum sector, and the reason it stands apart from IonQ, D-Wave, and Rigetti has everything to do with where it…

Infleqtion (NYSE:INFQ) stock is climbing 6% to $14.32 in early Thursday trading after the quantum-technology company confirmed a $20 million follow-on contract from NASA. The award funds continued work on a space-based quantum gravity sensor and gives a name that only listed in February a concrete government milestone.

Meanwhile, IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) shares are rising 5% to $42.15, catching a sympathy bid as the NASA headline reheats interest across the quantum group. Infleqtion’s Thursday move caps a strong stretch, with the stock up 39% over the past month through Wednesday’s close.

The Defiance Quantum ETF (NASDAQ:QTUM) is up 1% to $150.29, running well behind Infleqtion’s single-name spike. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is up 0.3% to $768.17, showing that the broad market backdrop is quiet by comparison.

NASA Award Anchors the Move NASA awarded Infleqtion a $20 million follow-on contract to continue developing the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder, a mission led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that aims to fly the world’s first space-based quantum gravity sensor. The new tranche brings NASA’s total investment in the program to $40 million and advances the mission into hardware development and testing.

CEO Matt Kinsella stated, “This follow-on award reflects the progress our team has made and marks an important step toward the mission’s next phase.” Chief Science Officer Dana Anderson added that “there is an enormous amount of potential for quantum technology use cases in space,” pointing to a shift from testing the quantum technology itself to testing how it can be used in the space environment.

Infleqtion’s role covers the design, maturation, and integration of the atomic physics package that sits at the quantum core of the sensor, built around ultracold rubidium atoms. The next phase includes building a sensor head and electronics engineering development unit and testing it at the Einstein Elevator drop tower facility in Hannover, Germany.

Government Sensing Sets Infleqtion Apart Infleqtion’s revenue story runs through government sensing contracts rather than commercial quantum computing, which is where IonQ, D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS), and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) sit. That distinction matters today because Infleqtion stock is running well ahead of its own sector fund, which tells you this is a single-name contract reaction rather than a quantum-wide rally.

IonQ stock was down 11% year to date through Wednesday’s close, and the broader quantum group has drifted for most of August. Across the peer group, D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing have both been softer over the past month, as investors have looked for concrete commercial traction that has been slow to arrive.

Infleqtion’s systems are already in use by the U.S. Department of War, NASA, and the U.K. government, and the company has multiple collaborations with NVIDIA. Infleqtion posted Q2 2026 revenue of $12.63 million, up 116% year over year, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to about $43 million, with the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer program cited as the primary growth driver.

What to Watch Work under the current phase runs through 2027, and hardware development is planned over the next three years, with a flight demonstration expected to launch aboard a low-Earth-orbit spacecraft in 2030. The $20 million is a milestone-based government development contract stretching to that timeline, and Infleqtion’s own filing language flags execution risk on the program.

Investors should consider keeping their position sizes modest given the multi-year runway and the gap between milestone payments and near-term commercial revenue (we wrote a free playbook on speculating with just 5% of a portfolio, here). Infleqtion carries a cash balance of $582 million with zero debt, which gives management room to execute, though the equity valuation still depends on hitting engineering milestones years out.

The next Infleqtion earnings report and NASA milestone update will show whether the program is translating into repeatable revenue, and whether Thursday’s reaction pulls capital toward quantum sensing distinct from commercial quantum computing. For now, the contract gives Infleqtion a differentiator that IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Rigetti Computing don’t share.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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.

Many stocks are sliding today, but one segment is falling faster than most. Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is down 0.7% to $708.26 in Monday afternoon trading, a soft but unremarkable session for the NASDAQ 100. Quantum computing names are declining roughly ten times as hard, so let’s take a closer look now.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) stock is down 7% to $16.70, giving back much of last week’s revenue-driven pop. Meanwhile, IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) stock is down 6% to $42.27, tracking the same reversal in sympathy.

Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) stock is down 7% to $8.32, unwinding a portion of a huge post-earnings run. Also, Infleqtion (NYSE:INFQ) stock is down 7% to $13.14, closing the loop on the basket move. Plus, D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) shares are trading lower alongside the group.

Revenue Headline Rally Comes Undone Last week’s move was headline-driven and correlated. Quantum Computing Inc. reported second-quarter revenue of $5.6 million, more than 9,000% above the $61,000 it posted a year earlier. Seven quantum names rose together on that session, then extended higher on additional guidance-friendly disclosures across the group.

Infleqtion originally reported second-quarter revenue up 116% to $12.6 million, then raised the figure to $13.5 million, a 157% increase, in an amended SEC filing five days later, a revision most coverage missed. That amendment landed on August 12 and pushed the reported growth rate materially higher without any broad rewrite of the sector narrative. Monday’s tape reflects sentiment-driven de-risking with no fresh negative catalyst on the wire.

Denominator Math Does the Analytical Work A revenue figure that jumps 9,000% or 157% year over year says more about how small the prior-year base was than how close quantum computing sits to commercial scale. Quantum Computing Inc. went from $61,000 in the year-ago quarter to $5.6 million, an enormous dollar gain in absolute terms only because the starting point was near zero. A near-zero denominator turns an ordinary dollar gain into a headline number.

The pattern shows up across every name in the group. Infleqtion’s amended figure moved from a 116% growth rate to a 157% growth rate on a single restated line item, and Quantum Computing Inc.’s reported backlog of roughly $42.5 million as of June 30 looks modest against its own market capitalization. Triple- and quadruple-digit growth rates are typical for these names given how small each starting base is.

These names increasingly trade as a single basket, moving on sector sentiment rather than on any one company’s results. That is why a bullish headline at Quantum Computing Inc. lifted the whole group last week, and why the current reversal is hitting all of them at once. As background, Rigetti Computing’s chief operating officer, David Rivas, sold 9,038 shares on August 20 in a routine tax-withholding transaction tied to vested restricted stock units, and he continues to hold 316,907 shares directly, so this filing sits in the background of today’s basket move.

Year-to-Date Scorecard Before the Reversal Rigetti Computing stock was down 19% year to date through Friday’s close, and Quantum Computing Inc. stock was down 13% year to date through Friday’s close. IonQ stock was essentially unmoved year to date through Friday’s close. Infleqtion has traded publicly only since February, so a comparable year-to-date figure is not available.

Against the Invesco QQQ Trust’s 16% year-to-date gain through Friday, the quantum basket has spent much of the year trailing the broader NASDAQ 100 even before Monday’s slide. That gap frames Monday’s move as high-beta risk-shedding in a soft tape. The QQQ’s own 0.7% pullback is small enough to isolate the quantum reaction as name-specific to the group.

How to Size Quantum Basket Risk Investors holding Rigetti Computing, IonQ, Quantum Computing Inc., and Infleqtion should treat them as a single high-beta position rather than diversified quantum exposure. Position sizing matters more than name selection here, because correlated basket moves overwhelm single-company fundamentals on days like Monday. A cautious approach favors small, defined-risk allocations that can absorb 7% single-session swings without forcing a decision (we laid out the sizing and exit rules for speculating with a small slice of a portfolio in a free playbook here: Small Stakes, Big Swings).

Any fresh government funding disclosure or analyst note could reset sentiment for Rigetti Computing, IonQ, Quantum Computing Inc., and Infleqtion, given how thinly current fundamentals support these market caps. Keep an eye on the quantum basket into the close for signs of stabilization.

For anyone without a position, watch for follow-through selling in high-beta speculative tech on Tuesday and scale exposure to the basket dynamic accordingly. The bulls in Rigetti Computing, IonQ, Quantum Computing Inc., and Infleqtion can point to expanding revenue lines and CHIPS Act letters of intent, while bears see rich valuations against pre-profit businesses, and both cases can be right at once. Discipline on sizing is the way to hold either view without letting a single session dictate the outcome.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – August 24 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks and ETFs featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT - Free Report) or QCi and Quantinuum Inc. (QNT - Free Report) , IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS - Free Report)

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:Quantum Stocks Face Reality Check: QUBT, QNT Stand Out on 75%+ UpsideThe quantum-computing trade has entered a more demanding phase in the second half of 2026. After a powerful rally earlier this year, investors are increasingly looking beyond qubit milestones and government support toward revenue visibility, cash requirements and commercialization. This shift comes as the macro backdrop becomes less favorable for high-risk growth stocks within the quantum computing space.

Against this backdrop, two pure-play quantum computing stocks outside the sector's leading names that are showing notable commercial momentum are Quantum Computing Inc. or QCi and Quantinuum Inc.  Let’s delve deeper.

A Cooling Labor MarketThe Federal Reserve kept the federal funds target range at 3.5%-3.75% at its July 29 meeting, while inflation remains elevated. Going by the BLS’ July CPI report, released in August 2026, the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year over year, with core CPI up 2.5%, while the energy index increased 14.7% for the 12 months ending July. The labor market is also cooling. July nonfarm payrolls declined 23,000, with unemployment at 4.1%, according to the BLS’ August-released Employment Situation Summary report.

Higher Yields, Persistent Inflation and Fiscal Risks Add PressureThe macro backdrop is becoming less forgiving for long-duration, speculative technology stocks. The BEA's latest Personal Income and Outlays report showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rising 3.7% year over year in June, while core PCE increased 3.3%. Although the headline PCE index fell 0.1% month over month, underlying inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, limiting the scope for rapid monetary easing.

Producer-price pressures add to the challenge. July Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 4.7% year over year, although the index was unchanged month over month. Prices excluding food, energy and trade services also rose 4.7% over the 12 months ended in July, suggesting that cost pressures remain elevated.

At the same time, real consumer spending increased 0.4% in June, according to the BEA, indicating that the U.S. economy still has an important source of resilience. That makes the backdrop less about an outright economic downturn and more about persistent inflation, elevated borrowing costs and a higher hurdle for speculative investments.

The bond market is adding another layer of pressure. Reuters reported on Aug. 21 that U.S. long-term yields remained elevated, with the 30-year Treasury yield around 5.25%, as investors weighed inflation, fiscal deficits and a U.S. debt load that has surpassed $40 trillion. Oil prices also climbed amid renewed Middle East tensions, increasing the risk that energy inflation could complicate the Fed's policy path.

For quantum stocks, the message is increasingly clear- technological promise alone is no longer enough. Investors want evidence that bookings, partnerships and technical milestones can translate into scalable commercial revenue.

Why IONQ and QBTS Are Under PressureThe pressure on prime-line pureplay quantum stocks like IonQ and D-Wave Quantum  is therefore not necessarily a rejection of quantum technology. It reflects the widening gap between ambitious long-term opportunities and near-term financial execution. IonQ delivered an impressive 287% year-over-year increase in its second-quarter revenues and raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $280-$290 million. However, its valuation remains lumpy, while the company continues to invest heavily in expansion and integration following the SkyWater acquisition. IONQ currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

D-Wave faces a different challenge. First-half bookings surged 1,120% year over year, but second-quarter revenue was only $3.1 million, essentially flat from a year earlier. The disparity shows the sector's key bottleneck- turning bookings, pilots and technical advances into recurring revenue at scale. QBTS also carries a Zacks Rank #4 right now.

Government Support is Strong - But Commercialization Still MattersWashington continues to support the strategic development of quantum computing. A June 22 White House executive order called for a national effort to develop a powerful quantum computer and accelerate quantum capabilities for commercial applications. The Department of Energy subsequently launched its Quantum Genesis initiative targeting scientifically relevant, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

These initiatives strengthen the industry's long-term opportunity, but government support does not eliminate execution risk. Quantum companies still face hardware-scaling, error-correction, manufacturing, data-preparation and customer-adoption bottlenecks.

QUBT: Diversification Creates a Different Growth ProfileQuantum Computing or QCi’s second-quarter 2026 revenues jumped to $5.6 million from $61,000 a year earlier, while contract backlog reached approximately $42.5 million. The company also completed its NHanced Semiconductors acquisition and delivered its Dirac-3 quantum optimization system to a global consulting firm. Importantly, QUBT is building exposure across quantum photonics, semiconductors and quantum optimization rather than relying on a single hardware pathway.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Based on short-term price targets offered by six analysts, the average price target for QCi comes to $18.33, representing an increase of 125.2% from the last closing price of $8.14.

QNT: Commercial Momentum Is AcceleratingQuantinuum offers another differentiated route into quantum computing, with an enterprise-focused full-stack model spanning hardware, software and applications. Its second quarter revenue increased 279% year over year, while the company raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $28-$32 million and reported year-to-date bookings of $81 million. Its Helios system also demonstrated near-five-nines logical fidelity, strengthening its technology proposition. 

Quantinuum's planned integration with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides another potential avenue for enterprise adoption. With more than $2 billion of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments after its IPO, QNT has substantial resources to fund development. Its key risk remains valuation and the long path to profitability.

The stock also carries a Zacks Rank #3. Based on short-term price targets offered by 12 analysts, the average price target for Quantinuum comes to $97.17, representing an increase of 77% from the last closing price of $54.90. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Quantum computing may seem like a technology of the distant future, but it's rapidly becoming a reality. There are many pioneers in this space that are developing it toward what they hope will be a practical and useful technology, and IonQ (IONQ +8.02%) is among the best. IonQ stock is also trading well below its all-time highs, making it seem like a great stock to buy now.

The market is in a risk-off state, but if that flips, IonQ could rally to new highs, making today a perfect time to buy a company that's among the front-runners in the race to bring viable quantum computing technology to market.

Image source: Getty Images.

IonQ has a long way to go Quantum computing is possible, but at this stage, the results it generates are not reliably usable.

Every quantum computer is built around qubits -- their fundamental units of data calculation -- which are incredibly sensitive to outside interference. Tiny amounts of "noise" in the system can cause qubits to change state, rendering the results of their calculations inaccurate.

Because of this, error reduction and error mitigation are two of the chief challenges that every player in the quantum computing space is focused on.

Right now, IonQ's technology is the best in the world at delivering accurate results. It boasts a 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity measurement. But that's still a long way from the level of accuracy delivered by classical computers.

IonQ is working to develop a fault-tolerant 10,000-qubit quantum computer, which it believes to be the minimum size necessary for a system that could reliably deliver a quantum advantage compared to today's supercomputers and achieve mainstream viability. Currently, its 256-qubit system is undergoing testing, and it's expected to be a huge step forward for early adopters.IonQ is also working with numerous customers and partners that are helping it fund its research and develop a commercially viable product.

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In Q2, IonQ's revenue jumped 287% year over year to $80.1 million. While acquisitions fueled some of that growth, management projects greater than 100% organic growth for the year. Organic growth only measures the gains from business units that were part of the company in the prior-year period. That's a much cleaner way of assessing business success; otherwise, growth rates could be artificially inflated through continuous acquisitions.

However, the market isn't as excited about quantum technology's potential right now as it has been. As a result, IonQ's stock is down over 40% from the all-time high it touched at the end of 2025 -- the last time the market was in a risk-on state.

Devoting a small portion of your portfolio to quantum computing could result in impressive gains, and IonQ is my favorite pure play in the space. It's a leader in the quantum computing world, and it's doing exactly what it said it was going to do. It think it's a smart stock to load up on here, as the market will eventually cycle back to being less risk averse. 

Another quarter has come and gone, and investors may still be waiting for the quantum computing industry's breakthrough moment. Although many likely assume this will come via artificial intelligence applications, cryptographic advancements, or even something like pharmaceutical research, it's possible that aerospace may get there first in the end.

IonQ Today

$43.22 -0.91 (-2.05%)

As of 02:19 PM Eastern

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$84.64$69.92

IonQ NYSE: IONQ recently announced a promising government contract that suggests as much, although many investors may have missed it in the hype surrounding the company's noteworthy Q2 2026 earnings.

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In early August 2026, IonQ announced that its Space Division—formerly Capella—had been awarded a contract with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The contract supports the NRO's Radar Commercial Augmentation (RCA) program. At first glance, this contract seems to be a satellite imaging award rather than a typical quantum computing contract. However, this may be exactly why IonQ's announcement could signal that the company is on the verge of a much larger commercial breakthrough.

A Closer Look at IonQ's Space AwardIonQ's agreement with the NRO provides that the company will offer commercial synthetic aperture radar imagery and related data services in support of various U.S. national security missions. This seems to be a far cry from IonQ's quantum tech and an unusual avenue for the firm to pursue, given its recent sales success and expanding commercial traction in that area. IonQ did not share the financial terms of the agreement.

Investors expecting a quantum computing deployment may be disappointed at first, but the contract suggests that IonQ may be transitioning from a firm focused entirely on quantum hardware to one building exposure to multiple industries and finding creative approaches to commercialize its tools. Given that the government is willing to agree to pay IonQ for these services, this contract is evidence of the company's success in making that pivot.

IonQ's Acquisitions Are Paying OffAll of this is possible thanks to IonQ's $311-million acquisition of Capella Space last year, one of a series of major purchases, including the recent high-profile deal involving SkyWater Technology. Although D-Wave NASDAQ: QBTS made headlines early in the year with its major acquisition of Quantum Circuits, this was, in some respects, a straightforward quantum play rather than a lateral move to dramatically expand its reach beyond the industry.

Despite paying substantial sums for several companies in recent years, IonQ's financials continue to stand out. Its latest earnings saw 287% year over year (YOY) growth in revenue to a record $80 million, plus a notable full-year revenue guidance raise to a range of $280 million to $290 million. What's more, the company still has about $3 billion in cash and investments, not including the SkyWater acquisition, which gives it tremendous financial flexibility compared to many rivals.

Why Space Makes Sense for IonQLike quantum computing, space is an industry undergoing rapid transformation, with many opportunities for growth that are likely yet untapped. Quantum technology applications in aerospace are becoming increasingly clear and may include securing satellite communications, developing and improving ultra-precise atomic clocks, managing observation and data collection, optimizing satellite constellations, providing GPS-independent navigation, and more.

IonQ Stock Forecast Today12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$69.92
63.62% Upside

Moderate Buy
Based on 14 Analyst Ratings

Current Price$42.73High Forecast$100.00Average Forecast$69.92Low Forecast$35.00IonQ Stock Forecast Details

The radar application related to IonQ's NRO contract is especially important because it offers a real commercial benefit that is immediately available. These radar systems collect imagery regardless of time of day, cloud cover, and adverse weather, making them especially helpful for not only military intelligence but also disaster response, insurance use, and more. IonQ's commercial synthetic aperture radar platform gathers data that could be invaluable for monitoring pipeline movement or bridge stresses, for example.

The NRO award shows that IonQ's space projects—including prior defense work under both IonQ and Capella Space before the acquisition—are attracting government funding. Perhaps the surest sign that this has financial potential is the fact that competitors like IBM Corp. NYSE: IBM are also exploring collaborations with NASA on quantum tech.

It's unlikely that IonQ's NRO contract will have a material impact on the company's near-term financial results, particularly given that the firm has not disclosed the contract value. Rather, this award is more important as a potential strategic signal, suggesting that IonQ is putting into practice what many other quantum tech companies are still only hoping to do: finding revenue-generating real-world uses for quantum tools that can draw customer interest. If aerospace becomes increasingly important in the quantum computing industry, IonQ is particularly well-prepared to be able to meet that demand. What's more, the company's breadth outside of the pure quantum space suggests it may be able to achieve similar results elsewhere as well.

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Quantum computing stocks are getting hit hard Tuesday as a spike in long-dated Treasury yields forces a broad rotation out of speculative technology stocks. Near the close, IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) is down about 6% at roughly $44, D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) is off about 6.4% at roughly $20, and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) is down about 5% at roughly $18.

Rates Force a Rotation Out of Long-Duration Names Today’s move is rate-driven. The trigger is the bond market. The 30-year Treasury hit a 19-year high today, and the 10-year yield sits at 4.68%, near recent highs and up roughly 3% from a month ago. Quantum computing names are among the purest long-duration assets trading on U.S. exchanges.

These are pre-revenue or minimally revenue-generating businesses whose valuations rest almost entirely on cash flows that may not arrive for years, and in some cases a decade or more. When the long end of the curve moves higher, the present value of those distant cash flows falls the hardest. That is the primary reason behind today’s disproportionate selling in the group.

AI Sentiment Cools After Anthropic and OpenAI Revenue Reveal The rate move is landing on top of a shift in AI narrative.

Anthropic told investors over the weekend that its annualized revenue run rate hit $65 billion at the end of July, while OpenAI has said its ARR recently reached $40 billion. Both are enormous, but below the higher numbers that had been circulating in Silicon Valley. Reuters reported Anthropic is projecting 2028 revenue of $190 billion to $200 billion, likely below more aggressive investor projections.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that nine top tech companies have about $3 trillion of off-balance-sheet commitments largely tied to AI, roughly triple what those companies owe under outstanding leases and long-term borrowings, and growing faster than traditional capex, which totaled about $600 billion over the past year. Together, those data points are pushing investors to reprice long-dated AI exposure, and the picks-and-shovels side of the trade (we profiled seven of the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind the buildout in a free report here) is where the durable spend actually lands.

Software Holds Up While Hardware Bears the Brunt The result is a textbook risk-off rotation. Technology is the worst-performing sector today. AI hardware, semiconductors, neoclouds and consumer electronics are all lower, while healthcare, consumer defensive, utilities and energy are higher. Software is outperforming. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (NASDAQ:IGV) is roughly flat, up 0.04% on the day, a sharp contrast with the pain across hardware-heavy corners of tech.

A Sharp One-Month Rally Comes Off Today’s declines follow a strong run for the group. IonQ was up about 35% over the past month heading into today. Rigetti was up about 32% over the past month. D-Wave was up about 25% over the same window. That momentum made these names especially vulnerable to profit-taking on a rate-driven risk-off day. The fuller picture, though, complicates the story. On a year-to-date basis IonQ is up only about 4%, D-Wave is down about 20%, and Rigetti is down about 16%. Today’s slide comes off a hot four weeks that has only partly repaired a weak year.

The earnings backdrop is worth remembering. IonQ posted Q2 revenue of about $80M, up roughly 287% year over year in its Q2 10-Q filing, and raised its FY26 revenue guide to $280M to $290M. Rigetti reported revenue of about $5M, up roughly 185% year over year, and signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $100M in CHIPS Act funding. D-Wave’s Q2 revenue came in at about $3M, essentially flat year over year and missing the roughly $4M estimate, though H1 bookings surged to $35.5M from $2.9M a year earlier and remaining performance obligations rose 668% to $40.7M.

While quantum names have been familiar to investors for years, their ramp is still in its very early stages.

What to Watch Watch the direction of long-dated Treasury yields in the coming days and any Fed commentary in the weeks ahead. Any relief at the long end of the curve tends to bring the quantum cohort back first, because these names move as a group on rate and risk sentiment.

The next scheduled catalysts are Q3 earnings later this year and continued milestone announcements, including IonQ’s 256-qubit demo, Rigetti’s CHIPS Act funding progress, and D-Wave’s gate-model roadmap.

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IonQ's 16% post-earnings rally reflects stronger revenue growth and a higher 2026 outlook, but valuation risks may temper further gains.

Is the future of technology found in securing the cloud or in the processing power of quantum computing? CrowdStrike (CRWD -3.80%) and IonQ (IONQ +2.85%) represent two distinct paths for growth-oriented investors.

CrowdStrike dominates the cloud security landscape with its artificial intelligence-driven platform, while IonQ is a pioneer in the developing world of quantum hardware. They are frequently compared because both rely on advanced computing to maintain a competitive edge in their respective industries. Choosing between them requires balancing a market leader against a high-potential start-up.

The case for CrowdStrikeCrowdStrike provides cloud-native cybersecurity through its Falcon platform to more than 88,000 organizations. Its business model centers on endpoint protection and identity security for enterprise and government clients. As a prominent name among tech stocks, the company aims to replace traditional security software with its comprehensive cloud-based platform.

In the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2026, revenue reached nearly $4.8 billion. This represents a 21.7% increase compared with the prior fiscal year. Despite this growth, the company reported a net loss of approximately $162.5 million, reflecting a net margin of negative 3.4%.

As of its January 2026 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio was 0.2x, representing the amount of debt used relative to shareholder equity. The current ratio was roughly 1.8x, showing the company's ability to cover short-term liabilities. Free cash flow reached $1.3 billion, though stock-based compensation represented 68% of operating cash flow, which inflates reported cash generation as a non-cash expense.

The case for IonQIonQ uses trapped-ion technology to build quantum computers designed to solve problems too complex for today's machines. These systems are available through major cloud platforms and serve customers across land, sea, air, and space. The company is expanding its reach through its new U.S. foundry subsidiary and professional services for algorithm development.

In the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025, IonQ reported revenue of $130.0 million. This marked a significant increase of 201.9% compared with the prior fiscal year. The company recorded a net loss of approximately $510.4 million, which resulted in a net margin of negative 392.6%.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, IonQ maintained a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.0x, indicating it carries no debt compared to its equity. Its current ratio was approximately 15.5x, suggesting it has significant resources to meet short-term obligations. However, free cash flow for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025, was nearly negative $299.6 million.

Risk profile comparisonCrowdStrike continues to face consequences from the July 2024 update incident, which impacted customer retention and financial results. It must also contend with competition from legacy vendors and new entrants like Microsoft. Long sales cycles and global data regulations add further uncertainty to its financial outlook.

IonQ faces challenges in scaling its technology and achieving commercial production before its proprietary methods become obsolete. The integration of its SkyWater Technology acquisition also creates operational strain. Furthermore, the company relies heavily on third-party cloud infrastructure provided by Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet.

Valuation comparisonCrowdStrike appears more established with a lower P/S ratio, while IonQ remains a speculative play with a much higher valuation and no Forward P/E.

MetricCrowdStrikeIonQForward P/E172.7xN/AP/S ratio43.3x72.0xValuation metrics sourced from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.

I'd go with CrowdStrike. Its most recent quarter was a strong beat across every major metric: record annual recurring revenue, free cash flow surging to nearly a third of total revenue, and management raising its full-year outlook. The Falcon platform keeps consolidating more of its customers' security spending under one roof, which is exactly the kind of sticky, compounding business model that rewards long-term investors.

IonQ is doing fascinating work in quantum computing that has captured the attention of many investors, and its commercial traction is ahead of that of every other pure-play quantum company right now. Revenue is growing fast, the backlog has expanded dramatically, and institutional investors are starting to take notice. If you're comfortable with early stage risk, this is a company worth watching.

But IonQ is still years from profitability, and the gap between its current revenue and what it needs to justify its valuation is wide. Quantum computing's commercial moment is approaching, but it has not fully arrived yet. CrowdStrike is solving a problem enterprises need solved right now, and it is doing so at scale and with growing profitability. For a long-term investor, that is a more dependable foundation than a quantum computing bet that still has a lot left to prove.

IonQ (IONQ +0.48%) is building quantum processors that could work alongside GPUs to improve AI accuracy, efficiency, and limited-data training. The opportunity could make IonQ a critical supplier to the next generation of AI infrastructure, but its extreme valuation means the company must convert promising research into lasting commercial growth.

Stock prices used were the market prices of July 31, 2026. The video was published on Aug. 11, 2026.

Rick Orford 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. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

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.