IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 6.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• IonQ's share price fell 6.1% to $74.42, with a trading volume significantly higher than the average at 40,361,041 shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on IonQ, with seven analysts rating it as a Buy and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $58.33.
• The company reported a $0.70 loss per share for its last quarter, which missed estimates significantly, although revenue was up 81.6% year-over-year.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $72.60 and last traded at $74.42. 40,361,041 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 70% from the average session volume of 23,716,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Zacks Research cut IonQ from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday. B. Riley lifted their price target on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.33.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average is $50.90 and its 200 day moving average is $40.57. The firm has a market cap of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.02 and a beta of 2.60.

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 return on equity of 67.11% and a negative net margin of 885.21%.The business had revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. The company's revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 6,789 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $292,877.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,624,594.46. The trade was a 10.04% 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, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $886,934.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 532,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,648,150.40. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 185,665 shares of company stock valued at $8,223,268. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 119.3% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 348.0% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 112.5% in the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 780.1% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,461 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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