IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $29.14, but opened at $31.74. IonQ shares last traded at $29.87, with a volume of 12,038,173 shares.

The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IONQ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reduced their price objective on IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 592,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,563,438. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,840,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $863,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in IonQ by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 61,481 shares of the company's stock worth $2,568,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $850,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in IonQ by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 303,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,690,000 after acquiring an additional 25,577 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Stock Up 2.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.80 and a beta of 2.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.24.

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.

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