IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 3.7% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was up 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.92 and last traded at $50.74. Approximately 16,394,167 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 15,945,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.94.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IONQ. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wedbush started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price target on IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.91.

IonQ Trading Up 6.8%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.19. The stock has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.50 and a beta of 2.63.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $26.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.81 per share, with a total value of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,496.53. This trade represents a 45.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 60,839 shares in the company, valued at $3,346,145. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 125,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,992,000 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 700.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in IonQ by 485.7% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.