What's the easiest way to make $1 million? The answer, at least according to an old joke, is to start with $2 million. However, there could be a better way.
Investing in leaders with promising potential in an up-and-coming technology has made fortunes for some forward-thinkers in the past. Quantum computing just might present such an opportunity today. Here are two quantum computing stocks that could make you a millionaire.
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The swing-for-the-fence alternative: IonQ
Let's start with what I call an "swing-for-the-fence" quantum computing stock: IonQ (IONQ +3.61%). If IonQ delivers on its potential, the company will be worth a lot more than its current market cap of roughly $18 billion.
IonQ specializes in the trapped-ion quantum computing approach. With this method, the company traps ionized ytterbium (a rare-earth metal) ions in 3D space and arranges them into a linear chain. IonQ can then create logical gates using qubits (the basic unit of information in quantum computing) to make quantum computers.
The trapped-ion architecture offers several competitive advantages over other approaches. It's faster, has fewer errors per operation, uses smaller devices, and requires less energy. Because of these advantages, IonQ believes that its technology is more scalable than rival systems.
NYSE: IONQ
Key Data Points
IonQ's roadmap could make it one of the biggest winners in the quantum computing space -- if the company achieves its goals. By the end of next year, IonQ plans to have systems that support 100 to 256+ physical qubits. By 2030, the company hopes to deploy quantum computers with 2 million physical qubits.
But IonQ isn't just focusing on quantum computing. It's also developing quantum networking, sensing, and security solutions. As a result, IonQ bills itself as "the only quantum platform company in the world." This differentiation could work in investors' favor over the next decade and beyond.
The play-it-safe(r) option: Alphabet
What if you're not the kind of investor who's comfortable with swinging for the fence? No problem. Google parent Alphabet (GOOG 0.87%) (GOOGL 0.86%) is a great "play-it-safe" (or, at least, "play-it-safer") pick to potentially profit from quantum computing.
Alphabet's Google Quantum AI unit has already achieved two major quantum computing milestones. In 2019, its Sycamore processor performed a computation in 200 seconds that the company said would have taken the "best-known algorithms in the most powerful supercomputers at the time 10,000 years to accomplish." Four years later, Google Quantum AI demonstrated a logical qubit prototype that reduced errors by increasing the number of qubits.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
The next major milestone for Google Quantum AI is to build a long-lived logical qubit. After that, plans to create a logical gate, scale up the number of logical qubits, and ultimately build a large error-corrected quantum computer that can be used in a variety of practical applications.
Alphabet's big advantage over pure-play quantum computing companies such as IonQ is money. Google's parent has immense financial resources, raking in nearly $35 billion in profits in the third quarter of 2025 alone. That's nearly 514 times the revenue that IonQ generated in the first three quarters of the year.
Quantum computing is a natural extension of Alphabet's intense focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Google Quantum AI's progress could boost Alphabet's AI efforts significantly and perhaps even enable the company to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI). It could also potentially help accelerate the growth of Google Cloud, which already ranks as the fastest-growing of the three largest cloud providers.
Slam-dunk millionaire-makers?
Are IonQ and Alphabet stocks that are guaranteed to make you a millionaire? Absolutely not. There are no slam dunks on this front.
IonQ could find its technology eclipsed by rival approaches. Even if that doesn't happen and the company is highly successful, its stock still might not turn a relatively small investment of $10,000 into $1 million in a realistic timeframe. On a similar note, Alphabet could continue to grow robustly as it has in recent years without being a millionaire-maker stock.
But could larger amounts invested in these two stocks grow into $1 million over the long run? It's possible.
