IonQ’s (IONQ) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Rosenblatt Securities

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 187.89% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on IONQ. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Monday, September 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $49.00 price objective on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on IonQ from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.83.

IonQ Stock Performance

IONQ stock traded down $1.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.74. 14,988,220 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,492,027. IonQ has a 12 month low of $25.89 and a 12 month high of $81.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.78. The company has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.46 and a beta of 3.36.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.23. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 22.29% and a negative net margin of 553.27%. The company had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.70) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 286.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that IonQ will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider John Raymond sold 2,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $89,564.47. Following the transaction, the insider owned 77,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,892,742.61. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in IonQ by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its stake in IonQ by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 12,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 26.1% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 22.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 14.9% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Elisity acquisition could expand recurring revenue. IonQ agreed to acquire zero-trust cybersecurity company Elisity in an all-stock transaction valued at up to $1.3 billion, including as much as $150 million in performance-based earnouts. IonQ says Elisity’s identity-based microsegmentation platform can complement its post-quantum cryptography and quantum key-distribution products, potentially adding enterprise software revenue and accelerating commercialization. IonQ to acquire cybersecurity firm Elisity in an all-stock deal for up to $1.3 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Quantum technology and government catalysts remain supportive. IonQ reported a record 1,032 entangled pairs per second in a quantum-memory interconnect breakthrough, an advance toward networked quantum systems. The company may also benefit from the Pentagon’s roughly $350 million quantum initiative and its progress in DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. IonQ Hits 1,032 Entangled Pairs Per Second in Quantum Link Breakthrough
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst support and industry activity provide offsetting signals. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a Buy rating and set a $100 price target. Separately, D-Wave expanded its partnership with IonQ-owned SkyWater Technology, supporting the strategic value of IonQ’s broader quantum supply-chain platform. D-Wave Quantum Deepens Partnership With IonQ’s SkyWater Technology
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned about dilution, valuation and execution risk. Because the Elisity purchase will be funded with IonQ shares, the transaction will increase the share count; the reference price is subject to a collar of approximately $33.07 to $49.61. The deal is sizable relative to IonQ’s revenue, while the company remains unprofitable, making the near-term financial benefits uncertain. These concerns drove selling pressure despite the acquisition’s strategic rationale. IonQ Fell 9% on a $1.3 Billion Deal—Is Wall Street Missing Something?

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc is a quantum computing company that develops and commercializes quantum computers based on trapped-ion technology. Its systems are designed to perform specialized computations that may eventually support applications in areas such as optimization, materials science, drug discovery, financial modeling and artificial intelligence.

The company offers access to its quantum processors through cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services’ Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure Quantum and Google Cloud.