For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – June 11, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: IonQ IONQ, D-Wave Quantum QBTS and Rigetti Computing RGTI.
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Why It Might Be the Right Time to Book Profits on IonQ Stock
Despite a turbulent start to 2026 for technology stocks, IonQ has significantly outperformed both the broader market and many of its quantum computing peers. The stock is up 33.3% year to date, while rival quantum computing companies like D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing have declined 6.7% and 7.5%, respectively.
Investors have rewarded IonQ for its strong revenue growth, expanding backlog, growing product portfolio and ambitious roadmap toward large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing. The company's recent acquisitions and aggressive push into networking, security and quantum infrastructure have further pushed the stock higher on the perception that it is emerging as the industry's most comprehensive platform player.
However, the stock's strong rally could be a reason for investors to lock in some gains. While IonQ continues to make progress on both the technology and business fronts, much of the recent share-price appreciation appears to be driven by expectations of what the company could achieve several years from now. The market is increasingly valuing IonQ based on its future potential rather than its current revenue, profitability or cash-generation ability.
That raises an important question - has the stock moved too far ahead of its near-term fundamentals? Let's take a closer look.
Valuation Running Ahead of Commercial Reality
Despite generating only $64.7 million in first-quarter revenues and remaining deeply unprofitable, the stock has rallied as investors bet on future milestones such as fault-tolerant quantum computers, large-scale commercial deployments and broader enterprise adoption. In other words, a significant portion of the stock's value is tied to achievements that have not yet been realized. If commercialization takes longer than expected or customers adopt quantum solutions more slowly than anticipated, the gap between the company's current business fundamentals and investor expectations could become a source of downside risk.
IonQ's year-to-date stock performance suggests investors are increasingly pricing in the company's long-term quantum leadership rather than its current operating scale. Although management raised 2026 revenue guidance to $260-$270 million and reported $470 million in remaining performance obligations, the stock still trades at 65.3x forward 12-month sales, compared to the sector's 6.6x. This level leaves little room for execution missteps.
Technical Picture: Bullish Trend, But Momentum Looks Extended
The 50-and-200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) chart shows a constructive long-term setup. The stock is trading roughly 17% above both its 50-day SMA and 200-day SMAs. This indicates the stock has rallied significantly faster than its underlying trend.
While this does not necessarily signal an imminent reversal, it suggests that much of the near-term optimism may already be priced into the shares. With the stock having significantly outperformed many quantum computing peers this year, further upside may increasingly depend on new commercial wins, technology milestones or additional guidance upgrades. In the absence of such catalysts, the risk-reward profile appears less compelling than it did earlier in the year.
Conclusion
Taken together, the evidence suggests that IonQ's stock price is increasingly reflecting long-term expectations rather than near-term business fundamentals. While the company remains one of the strongest players in the quantum computing industry, its premium valuation, bottom-line pressure and reliance on future commercialization milestones leave limited room for execution missteps. With the shares having substantially outperformed many peers in 2026 and currently carrying a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), investors may want to consider booking at least partial profits and waiting for a more attractive risk-reward setup before adding exposure.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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IonQ, Inc. (IONQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI): Free Stock Analysis Report
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).