IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Down 4.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• IonQ shares fell 4.2% on Friday, trading as low as $42.40 and closing below the prior day’s $44.77, with volume running well below average.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive despite the dip: the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average target price around $69.88 after several firms raised targets or reiterated buy/outperform views.
• Recent fundamentals were mixed as IonQ posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss of $0.34 per share, but revenue jumped 754.7% year over year to $64.67 million and exceeded estimates.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 4.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $42.40 and last traded at $42.8980. Approximately 14,413,089 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 26,111,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IONQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of IonQ from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of IonQ from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Ten equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.88.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -153.21 and a beta of 3.23. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $55.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.01.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a net margin of 174.88% and a negative return on equity of 23.20%. The business had revenue of $64.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, Director Gabrielle B. Toledano sold 2,757 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $151,662.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,581.54. The trade was a 19.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 3,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $209,863.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,148 shares in the company, valued at $4,408,941.48. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 13,102 shares of company stock worth $701,489 over the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in IonQ by 41.2% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 130,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,934,000 after buying an additional 38,000 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new position in IonQ during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in IonQ by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 11,541 shares of the company's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Bay Rivers Group acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $337,000. Finally, Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,000. 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.

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