IonQ (IONQ 4.86%) is one of the leaders in the effort to develop commercially viable quantum computers. While its stock has sold off recently, it could be only one major announcement away from skyrocketing again. After setting a 2026 high in late May, IonQ's stock has tumbled straight down, and is nearly 50% off its all-time high.
While some investors may see that as a warning sign, I think it's a buying signal, as IonQ's stock price action often is driven more by broader market sentiment than its specific investment thesis.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Viable quantum computing is a fair way off
IonQ is not a viable business right now. It has no profits and is only surviving on revenues from partnerships and the capital it raises through debt and share issuance. This makes it a highly risky stock, and when the market favors security over risk (as is the case right now), stocks like IonQ struggle. That's one of the primary reasons for its sell-off, as the company posted solid first-quarter results.
During that quarter, IonQ delivered 755% year-over-year revenue growth. Some of that growth came via acquisitions, but a healthy chunk also came from organic business growth, thanks to a new system sale and growing partnerships. IonQ expects that its organic growth rate will remain above 100% for the year, which is a fantastic result for an early-stage company.
NYSE: IONQ
Key Data Points
The reason why IonQ is a popular investment option in the quantum computing space is its unusual approach. Its machines are built around trapped-ion qubits, a technology that sacrifices speed for accuracy. IonQ holds the world record for 2-qubit gate fidelity, which is a commonly used metric for gauging computing accuracy.
The primary issue standing between every quantum computer developer and a commercially viable technology is that these machines are still too error-prone. As such, a product like IonQ's, which has meaningfully better accuracy, is a no-brainer decision for early-stage users.
IonQ could be a huge winner if it can further improve its error-reduction and error-correction technologies, and capture a large chunk of the quantum computing market. McKinsey & Company estimates that the quantum computing market could be worth up to $72 billion annually by 2035. If that pans out and IonQ winds up a leading player in the space, its stock could skyrocket over the next decade. Yet it's also possible that quantum computing as a whole will be a flop, or that others will surpass IonQ. This makes it a highly risky stock, so investors should not devote too much of their portfolio to it.
However, now that the market's risk-averse sentiment has trimmed its price, I think IonQ would be a smart stock to buy now.
