IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 5.6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• IonQ, Inc. shares increased by 5.6%, with trading volumes significantly up to 50 million shares compared to the average of 22 million.
• Despite the stock's recent rise, analysts have mixed opinions, with seven analysts rating it as a "Buy" and five as "Hold," underlining a consensus target price of $55.56.
• IonQ reported a quarterly loss of $0.70 EPS, missing estimates, while revenue rose to $20.69 million, marking an 81.6% increase year-over-year.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 5.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $71.30 and last traded at $70.53. 50,725,192 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 122% from the average session volume of 22,856,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IONQ. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.56.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $44.33 and its 200 day moving average is $36.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of -35.09 and a beta of 2.54.

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

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 8,773 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total transaction of $443,211.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,891,266.72. This trade represents a 18.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 72,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.26, for a total transaction of $3,042,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 646,516 shares in the company, valued at $27,321,766.16. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,047 shares of company stock worth $15,645,611 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 4,683.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 54,336 shares of the company's stock worth $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 53,200 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 6.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 323,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,149,000 after purchasing an additional 20,127 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 54.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 15.7% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 20,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.