Reviewing Canon (OTCMKTS:CAJPY) & IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) and Canon (OTCMKTS:CAJPY) are both large-cap technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.4% of IonQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of IonQ shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Canon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares IonQ and Canon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IonQ	$246.47 million	49.01	-$510.38 million	($4.66)	-6.04
Canon	$29.46 billion	0.88	$2.22 billion	$2.62	11.30

Canon has higher revenue and earnings than IonQ. IonQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Canon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares IonQ and Canon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IonQ	-553.27%	-22.29%	-13.20%
Canon	7.54%	9.52%	5.65%

Volatility and Risk

IonQ has a beta of 3.36, suggesting that its stock price is 236% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canon has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for IonQ and Canon, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IonQ	1	4	10	0	2.60
Canon	0	1	0	0	2.00

IonQ presently has a consensus target price of $64.23, indicating a potential upside of 128.33%. Given IonQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe IonQ is more favorable than Canon.

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. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in College Park, Maryland.

About Canon

Canon Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells office multifunction devices (MFDs), plain paper copying machines, laser and inkjet printers, cameras, diagnostic equipment, and lithography equipment. The company operates through four segments: Printing Business Unit, Imaging Business Unit, Medical Business Unit, and Industrial and Others Business Unit. The Printing Business Unit segment offers office MFDs, document solutions, laser multifunction printers, laser printers, inkjet printers, image scanners, calculators, digital continuous feed presses, digital sheet-fed presses, and large format printers. The Imaging Business Unit segment provides interchangeable-lens digital cameras, digital compact cameras, interchangeable lenses, compact photo printers, network cameras, video management and video content analytics software, digital camcorders, digital cinema cameras, broadcast equipment, and multimedia projectors. The Medical System Business Unit segment offers computed tomography systems, diagnostic ultrasound systems, diagnostic X-ray systems, magnetic resonance imaging systems, clinical chemistry analyzers, digital radiography systems, and ophthalmic equipment. The Industry and Others Business Unit segment provides semiconductor lithography equipment, flat panel display lithography equipment, vacuum thin-film deposition equipment, organic light-emitting diode display manufacturing equipment, die bonders, handy terminals, and document scanners. The company also provides maintenance services; and supplies replacement drums, parts, toners, and papers. It sells its products under the Canon brand through subsidiaries or independent distributors to dealers and retail outlets, as well as directly to end-users globally. Canon Inc. was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.