IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 2.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• IonQ's stock price increased by 2.7% during trading, reaching a last price of $42.13, despite an 80% decline in trading volume compared to its average.
• The company reported a significant revenue increase of 81.6% year-over-year, although it missed EPS estimates with a quarterly loss of ($0.70) per share.
• Several analysts have set buy ratings on IonQ, with a consensus target price of $46.78, while insider sales indicated a decrease in ownership among top executives.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) rose 2.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $42.02 and last traded at $42.13. Approximately 4,493,638 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 22,005,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, August 4th. B. Riley started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.78.

IonQ Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.50 and a beta of 2.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.61.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $17.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 2,597,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total transaction of $104,783,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 711,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,721,555.58. This represents a 78.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 216,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.11, for a total value of $8,231,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 718,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,382,644.76. This trade represents a 23.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,264,924 shares of company stock valued at $363,562,481 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in IonQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $114,767,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in IonQ by 648.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,917,000 after buying an additional 2,317,058 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in IonQ by 262.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 576,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,768,000 after buying an additional 930,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amazon Com Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,705,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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