Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 187.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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 shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, September 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.83.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IONQ traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,731,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,496,357. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.46 and a beta of 3.36. IonQ has a 1-year low of $25.89 and a 1-year high of $81.08.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider John Raymond sold 2,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $89,564.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,741 shares in the company, valued at $2,892,742.61. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Gainplan LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $449,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 57.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 51.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 18,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 6,437 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 46.5% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ News Summary

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?

IonQ Company Profile

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.