Why IonQ Stock Is Surging Today

IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) stock is posting big gains in Friday's trading despite sell-offs for the broader market. The quantum computing specialist's share price was up 7.2% as of 2:45 p.m. ET and had been up as much as 12.3% earlier in the session. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index were both down 1.4%.

IonQ saw big sell-offs earlier this week after Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO said he thought it was unlikely that a very useful quantum computer would be ready within the next 15 years. But IonQ's management released a statement on its outlook for the commercialization of quantum technologies today, and the stock is rebounding thanks to the more reassuring view.

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IonQ issues outlook following Nvidia CEO's comments

Quantum computing stocks saw massive valuation pullbacks earlier this week after Nvidia's Jensen Huang made comments about the technology earlier this week. Huang said the following at an event for analysts at this year's CES conference: "If you kind of said 15 years, that'd probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it's probably on the late side. But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it."

Quantum computing stocks saw big valuation run-ups at the end of 2024, and some industry experts forecast that significant commercial applications for the tech could begin ramping up in 2030. But Huang's comments suggested a far longer timeline for the development and scaling of the technology and caused investors to quickly move out of stocks in the category.

Today, IonQ issued a response. In a recently published press release, CEO Peter Chapman said that the company's #AQ 36 Forte Enterprise systems were already providing customers with insights. He also said that the company's upcoming #AQ 64 Tempo and next-generation #AQ 256 systems would allow for increasingly complex problem solving that would generate near-term business value. The CEO also stated that IonQ expects quantum artificial intelligence (AI) to outperform traditional AI.

What comes next for IonQ?

Investors won't have to wait too long to get a closer look at the level of business interest surrounding IonQ's next platform. The company is scheduled to launch its #AQ 64 Tempo systems this year, and sales from the platform should provide some indication for the levels of demand and utility in the quantum tech space.

Analysts do expect the company to deliver substantial revenue growth this year. But with the company valued at roughly 85 times this year's expected sales, the quantum-computing specialist also has a highly growth-dependent valuation. So while IonQ could still have explosive upside, investors should understand that the stock also comes with a high level of risk.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.