IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

IONQ has been the topic of several other reports. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of IonQ from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $48.50 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.46.

IonQ Stock Down 5.8%

NYSE:IONQ opened at $33.84 on Monday. IonQ has a 1-year low of $25.89 and a 1-year high of $84.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.85 and a beta of 3.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.90.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The company had revenue of $64.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that IonQ will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, Director Gabrielle B. Toledano sold 2,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $151,662.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,581.54. This trade represents a 19.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 139,967 shares in the company, valued at $6,984,353.30. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 13,102 shares of company stock worth $701,489 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,343,000 after buying an additional 5,420,037 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $199,753,000. Marex Group plc lifted its position in IonQ by 419.1% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,083,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,225,000 after buying an additional 3,296,866 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in IonQ by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,962,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 219.6% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. now owns 3,195,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,396,000 after buying an additional 2,196,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Benchmark Co. upgraded IonQ to “strong-buy,” reinforcing the bullish case for its full-stack quantum platform and international commercial expansion. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: SkyWater acquisition advances: IonQ received final regulatory approval to complete its acquisition of SkyWater Technology. The deal is expected to strengthen IonQ’s U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, improve supply-chain control and accelerate development of scalable quantum systems. IonQ Receives Regulatory Approval to Complete Acquisition of SkyWater Technology
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial validation for the sector: AT&T’s expanded partnership with D-Wave, which reportedly reduced a network-optimization task from 60 minutes to 15 seconds, is being viewed as evidence that quantum computing is moving toward practical enterprise use. The news lifted sentiment across the sector, including IonQ, and prompted higher analyst price targets for quantum companies. D-Wave’s AT&T Deal Shows Quantum Computing Is Moving Beyond Theory
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term growth narrative: Recent coverage highlights IonQ’s 256-qubit system, sales in more than 30 countries and exposure to quantum computing, networking, sensing and security. Benchmark estimates the overall quantum industry could generate approximately $1.5 billion in revenue in 2026, but the market remains early-stage and highly speculative. Benchmark’s Quantum Re-Rating Might Change the Case for Investing in IonQ
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks: IonQ recently missed quarterly EPS expectations despite revenue substantially exceeding forecasts. Its losses, negative earnings multiple and elevated volatility leave the stock vulnerable when investors reduce exposure to speculative technology names. The broader AI-infrastructure-led pullback has also pressured quantum stocks.

About 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.