Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock

Key Points

• Benchmark raised IonQ's target price from $55 to $75, indicating a potential upside of 20.91% based on the current stock price, with a "buy" rating still in place.
• IonQ reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.70) per share, significantly missing analysts' expectations, yet its revenue of $20.69 million exceeded forecasts and was up 81.6% year-over-year.
• Insider sales saw significant activity, with top executives selling over 1.8 million shares in the last three months, indicating a 12% decrease in ownership for the CFO and other executives.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by research analysts at Benchmark from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Benchmark's target price suggests a potential upside of 20.91% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.56.

IonQ Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE IONQ opened at $62.03 on Tuesday. IonQ has a 12 month low of $7.50 and a 12 month high of $62.85. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.86 and a beta of 2.54. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.56.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.57). IonQ had a negative net margin of 885.21% and a negative return on equity of 67.11%. The company had revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 81.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total value of $2,700,651.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 473,302 shares in the company, valued at $19,793,489.64. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $886,934.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 532,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,648,150.40. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,848,358 shares of company stock valued at $75,433,239 over the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 28.4% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 50.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 831 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 12.2% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 4.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in IonQ by 0.8% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 42,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company's stock.

IonQ Company Profile

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.

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