Why IonQ Stock Skyrocketed Today

IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) stock posted huge gains in Friday's trading. The quantum computing company's share price closed out the daily trading session up 17.6%.

IonQ stock saw strong bullish momentum in Friday's trading following new bullish coverage from Craig-Hallum. The investment firm maintained a buy rating on the quantum computing stock and raised its one-year price target on the stock from $22 per share to $45 per share.

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IonQ stock soars on bullish analyst coverage

While Craig-Hallum acknowledged risk on the heels of the recent valuation surge that IonQ has seen in conjunction with meme stock momentum and rising interest from retail traders, the firm's analysts believe that the company's current market cap offers potential upside. Craig-Hallum said that quantum-computing specialists have opportunities to disrupt corners of the traditional computing market -- opening the door for massive growth in the process.

The firm's bullish coverage helped power a day of big gains for IonQ stock, but the rally should be viewed in the context of the team of analysts' new one-year price target. With the stock surging to close out Friday's trading at $44.42 per share, Craig-Hallum's new price target of $45 per share implied additional upside of less than 1%.

What comes next for IonQ?

IonQ has continued to add new partnerships and technological milestones at encouraging rates. On the other hand, the outlook in the quantum computing space remains highly speculative.

Many experts in the field don't expect commercial applications for the emerging technology to be ready before 2030. Even if quantum computing starts to see significant utilization at that point, it's not guaranteed that IonQ will be a winner in the category. The company's trapped-ion qubit architecture could eventually wind up offering advantages compared to more resource-rich competitors including Alphabet and IBM, but estimating progression in the category involves plenty of guesswork. Investors should move forward with the understanding that IonQ is a high-risk, high-reward play.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool recommends International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.