IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 10.1% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• IonQ's stock price surged 10.1%, reaching a trading high of $69.60, with significant trading volume increasing by 57% from the average.
• Analysts generally rate IonQ stock positively, with seven analysts issuing a "Buy" rating and upward revisions of price targets ranging from $60.00 to $80.00.
• The company reported a quarterly revenue of $20.69 million, marking an 81.6% increase year-over-year, but it missed earnings expectations with an EPS of ($0.70).

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) rose 10.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $69.60 and last traded at $69.48. Approximately 36,848,687 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 57% from the average daily volume of 23,403,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.33.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of -34.57 and a beta of 2.60. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $48.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.00.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $886,934.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 532,616 shares in the company, valued at $23,648,150.40. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total transaction of $2,700,651.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 473,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,793,489.64. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,047 shares of company stock worth $12,602,891 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,064,257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,269,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in IonQ in the 2nd quarter valued at $114,767,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 648.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,058 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 576,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,768,000 after purchasing an additional 930,490 shares during the period. Finally, Amazon Com Inc. bought a new position in IonQ in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,705,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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