The author argues quantum computers are valuable for solving problems that normal computers can't handle efficiently, but says IonQ remains deeply unprofitable. Its second-quarter sales reached $80.1 million, up 287% year over year, helped by hardware sales, cloud access and acquisitions, and full-year revenue is now expected at $450 million to $460 million after the SkyWater deal. Operating losses hit $337 million in the quarter, more than four times revenue, and the company burns about $450 million in cash annually. With $2 billion in cash and investments, it has roughly a four-year runway, while the stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio above 40. The author believes investors have gotten ahead of themselves and expects the valuation to compress significantly.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
quantum computingIonQvaluation
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related news
- Prediction: Here's What a $1,000 Investment in IonQ Stock Could Be Worth in 5 Years
This article considers a $1,000 investment in IonQ, a pure-play quantum computing company that uses trapped-ion qubits. Second-quarter sales reached $80.1 million, up 287% year over year, but the operating loss was $337 million; after the SkyWater Technology acquisition closed in July, full-year revenue guidance rose by about $170 million to $450 million to $460 million, and the company holds about $2 billion in cash and investments. The author outlines a bullish case where sales grow 50% annually to $3.5 billion by 2031, and a bearish case where revenue grows 15% annually to $915 million while management uses dilutive stock sales to fund the losses. The author suspects the bearish scenario is closer to what will happen.
- Is IonQ Stock A Buy Today, Down By Half In A Year?
IonQ (IONQ) stock fell 50.3% over the past year, while the S&P 500 returned 17.1%, even as management called the second quarter of 2026 its fifth consecutive record quarter. A buyer pays 46.6 times trailing sales, versus 3.1 times for the S&P 500, for revenue of $246 million in the twelve months to June 30, up 370.6%, with organic revenue up 132% in the second quarter. Remaining performance obligations rose to $485 million from $122 million a year earlier, while the operating loss equaled 408.2% of revenue. IonQ held $2.1 billion in cash and short-term investments, priced a $2.0 billion equity offering on October 14, and agreed to buy Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to $1.3 billion, which will dilute existing shareholders when it closes. The next report, expected around November 11, 2026, will be the first to cover a quarter in which IonQ owned SkyWater, bought for $1.8 billion.
- If I Could Only Buy 1 Quantum Computing Stock With $1,000, It Would Be This One.
The author says that if limited to $1,000 for quantum computing, IonQ would be the pick, though as a speculative holding within a diversified portfolio. The technology could greatly speed up computing, but fragile qubits and high error rates mean widespread commercial use may be years away. IonQ uses trapped-ion technology, offers quantum-as-a-service, and partners with Nvidia; its first-half 2026 revenue rose 412%, yet free cash flow was negative $273 million, against about $2.1 billion in liquidity. The article calls its valuation, at 44 times price-to-sales, poorly aligned with its financial condition. It also warns the sector may face a shakeout like early internet search, putting smaller peers such as Rigetti and D-Wave at risk.
- Prediction: IonQ Could 10x by 2035
The author argues IonQ, with a $12 billion market cap, could rise tenfold to about $120 billion by 2035 if quantum computing takes off. IonQ's trapped-ion approach holds the world record in two-qubit gate fidelity, and its 256-qubit quantum computer, expected in early 2027, has already drawn several orders. The company also closed its SkyWater acquisition for chip fabrication and bought cybersecurity platform Elisity, though it is currently unprofitable. Reaching $120 billion at 10 times sales would require about $12 billion in annual revenue, versus just over $800 million analysts project for next year. The article cites industry expectations of viable commercial quantum computers around 2029 and McKinsey's projection of up to $72 billion in annual industry revenue by 2035, but notes there is no guarantee IonQ will succeed.
- IonQ Is Now Down 24% in a Month: Is IONQ a Toxic Stock or Ready for a Recovery?
IonQ shares are down 24% over the past month to $30.92 and fell about 4% in the afternoon session. The decline followed two October moves: an all-stock agreement to buy cybersecurity firm Elisity on October 12 and a large equity offering on October 14, which raised dilution concerns. Peers fell more sharply, with D-Wave Quantum down 35% and Rigetti Computing down 31% over the same period, suggesting a broader sell-off in quantum pure plays. The article presents two views: bears argue the extra shares could cap any rebound until Elisity's revenue becomes clear, while bulls see IonQ's relative resilience as a sign of rebound potential. The article says the current evidence does not clearly favor either side.
- Martin Shkreli Warns on Quantum Stocks: “They’ll Never Beat an NVIDIA Machine”
On the All-In podcast, Martin Shkreli argued that quantum computers will never beat NVIDIA GPUs at AI, noting that GPUs spend 99.9% of their time multiplying lists of numbers while quantum machines lack real memory and offer speedups only for narrow problems. He expects AI workloads to stay on GPUs, so IonQ, Rigetti and D-Wave must earn their valuations in smaller markets such as security and research. The article notes Rigetti burned $77.2 million in free cash flow in fiscal 2025 on roughly $13 million of revenue, while IonQ agreed to buy cybersecurity firm Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to $1.3 billion. IonQ trades at 19.5x forward sales, its lowest in three years, though that price still assumes a much larger market than it has today.
Related markets
Latest news
- Musk's wants to merge SpaceX and Tesla: Here's what to know
Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to study a merger, which would be worth about $3.5 trillion combined and would be the largest corporate deal in history. SpaceX, valued at about $2 trillion after a record listing this year, absorbed Musk's AI startup xAI in February, while Tesla is valued at about $1.5 trillion. Musk holds about 82 percent of SpaceX's voting power but only about 20 percent at Tesla. Dan Ives puts the odds of a deal at 90 percent by early 2027, though Musk called the requirement of a majority of all Tesla shares 'quite a high hurdle'. Loyal retail investors hold an estimated 25 to 27 percent of Tesla shares, and legal obstacles appear slight because both companies moved their incorporation to Texas from Delaware.
- CoreWeave and Nebius Stocks Are Crashing. Time to Buy the Dip?
Shares of Nebius and CoreWeave each fell 25% in the week of October 12 to 16. The sell-off stems from the yield on CoreWeave's debt in the secondary market surging to 15%, versus roughly 5% on Treasuries, which pushes the debt into 'distressed' territory and signals doubts about its ability to meet obligations. Nebius sold off in sympathy as a fellow neocloud company. The bigger concern is that both companies must keep issuing debt to fund data centers, and if yields are high at issuance, the assumption of nearly unlimited cheap capital could be challenged. The author says it is unclear whether now is the time to buy.
- Disney’s multiplatform Super Bowl plan frustrates ABC affiliates
ABC station owners are irritated that Disney is airing the Super Bowl across several platforms, including Disney+, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPNU, even though the game is already on ABC and ESPN. A station group CEO estimates that the combined platforms could cut broadcast ad revenue by up to 35% compared with last year. Local affiliates typically earn about 3% of annual ad revenue from the Super Bowl and pay network owners reverse retransmission fees, but Disney+ lacks geofenced ad insertion, so affiliates cannot sell ads to streaming viewers. Disney says national commercials will be identical on all platforms and that streaming major live events is standard industry practice. Super Bowl LX drew 125.6 million viewers in February.
- Meta’s deal to keep Zuckerberg in California adds fuel to wealth tax debate ahead of election
Meta says Mark Zuckerberg will remain in California for eight years and has created a new stock plan that could help cover his taxes if Proposition 40, a 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion, passes on Election Day on Nov. 3. According to a filing released with its third-quarter earnings, Meta will issue non-voting Class C shares starting in January, and Zuckerberg can sell or transfer up to 20% of the shares granted to him without affecting his majority voting control. The filing says Zuckerberg’s leadership is crucial to the company’s growth and its AI ambitions, including Meta Superintelligence Labs. Most of the tech industry opposes the measure, while a recent Citrin-Politico poll found 46% in favor and 43% against, suggesting it may fall short of the majority support it needs.
- Nasdaq sell-off: A momentum unwind 'for the record books'
Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, calls Thursday’s sell-off in the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) a momentum unwind “for the record books.” He says the market spent the first half of 2026 driven by a beta and momentum trade led by semiconductors, but in the third quarter, as rates rose, money shifted into quality stocks. He does not think the sell-off is justified by fundamentals, arguing that institutional portfolio managers swapping out of factor positions can drag down whole baskets of stocks. In semiconductors, spot rental rates for Nvidia Blackwell chips are higher than a month ago, showing tightening compute supply, even as financing costs rise and investors worry about neocloud business models and the rising cost of insuring their bonds.
- Dune launches real-time data feeds covering 200 onchain trading venues
Blockchain analytics platform Dune has launched real-time market data feeds covering more than 200 onchain trading venues, aiming to bring this data into the systems of traditional financial institutions. The feeds draw trade data from 12 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana and Base, about one second after execution, covering both spot trading on decentralized exchanges and perpetual futures on Hyperliquid and Lighter. Early clients include quant funds, market makers, asset managers and bank trading desks, which use the data to assess liquidity and compare prices, though Dune did not name them. Meanwhile, the tokenized stock market has grown sharply, with distributed value reaching $3.58 billion, but 16 companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs, have objected to their shares being traded on OKXICE’s proposed platform, and liquidity remains fragmented.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.