IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price shot up 6.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $51.89 and last traded at $50.80. 23,070,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 17,331,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.56.

Trending Headlines about IonQ

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks notes IonQ enters Q4 2025 earnings season with surging revenues and raised guidance, which supports the revenue-growth story and helps explain renewed buying interest. QBTS, RGTI, IONQ: Buy, Sell or Hold Ahead of Q4 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst write-ups (Zacks) and comparison pieces show IonQ outperforming peers on gate fidelity, execution speed and revenue momentum — a narrative that can justify multiple expansions versus other quantum pure-plays. Is IonQ a Buy in 2026? How the Stock Stacks Up Against RGTI, QBTS
• Positive Sentiment: Technical milestone: reports cite IonQ achieving extremely high two-qubit gate fidelity (99.99% in 2025). Higher fidelity improves commercial applicability and strengthens the company’s competitive moat. 2 No-Brainer Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Management / talent: IonQ named Katie Arrington (former DoD tech leader) as CIO — a hire that can accelerate government and defense customer relationships and signal stronger commercialization/government contract prospects. IonQ Names Former DOW Tech Leader Katie Arrington as CIO
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/analyst momentum: The Fool and Barron’s pieces promote quantum names broadly and highlight buy calls or price predictions — these increase retail and institutional attention but are not direct proof of near-term earnings upside. Rigetti and Quantum Computing Stocks Are a Buy, Says Analyst. Look Past the Criticism of Both.
• Neutral Sentiment: TV coverage: CNBC’s “Final Trade” mentioned IONQ among active tickers — TV chatter boosts short-term flows and visibility but is a noisy driver versus fundamentals. Final Trade: IONQ, URA, KRE, GM

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research upgraded IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.91.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a PE ratio of -9.50 and a beta of 2.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.27.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($3.14). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The business had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 20,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $1,028,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 60,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,127,124.60. The trade was a 24.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,496.53. The trade was a 45.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 125,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,992,000. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in IonQ by 119.3% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 700.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 485.7% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 3,800.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 624 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.