D-Wave or IonQ: Which Quantum Stock Has More Upside in 2025?

D-Wave Quantum QBTS and IonQ IONQ are two of the most prominent pure-play quantum computing companies. While both companies aim to transform traditional computing architectures, their strategies and technologies diverge significantly. D-Wave focuses on quantum annealing and hybrid quantum-classical solutions designed for practical, near-term business applications, such as optimization and AI. IonQ, on the other hand, is building gate-based, fault-tolerant quantum systems designed to solve more complex and scalable problems over the long term.

Both companies kicked off 2025 on a solid note, banking on strong technological progress and growth strategies. From investors’ perspective, the question remains, which stock holds greater potential for delivering gains this year? Let’s find out.

Reasons to Be Bullish on QBTS

Evolution of Advantage2 From Prototype to Deliver Production-Ready Performance: D-Wave has made rapid strides with its Advantage2 system, evolving from a prototype with 1,200+ qubits and 20-way qubit connectivity to a production-ready sixth-generation quantum annealer launched in May 2025. The full-scale Advantage2 now boasts over 4,400 qubits, 40% greater energy scale, 75% noise reduction, and 2x coherence, delivering unprecedented performance for real-world use cases in optimization, AI and materials science.

Improving Financial Health With Margin Expansion: D-Wave is showing financial progress in 2025, with expanding gross margins and a narrowing adjusted EBITDA loss. In the last reported first quarter of 2025, GAAP gross profit soared to $13.9 million from just $1.7 million a year earlier, while non-GAAP gross profit reached $14 million compared to $1.9 million in the prior-year quarter. These gains elevated D-Wave Quantum’s GAAP gross margin to 92.5% from 67.3%, and non-GAAP gross margin to 93.6% from 76.6%. The company reduced its adjusted EBITDA loss to $8.4 million, a 15% improvement year over year, while also trimming its net loss by 10%. This reflects operational discipline, better cost management and growing revenue contributions from commercial deployments.

Strategic Capital for Growth: In early July, D-Wave Quantum wrapped up a $400 million at-the-market equity raise at an average price of $15.18, a 360% premium over January’s raise. This boosted its cash reserves to approximately $815 million to fund R&D, strategic acquisitions and global expansion.

What's Driving IonQ?

Acquisitions and Deep Tech Collaborations: IonQ is building a vertically integrated quantum platform by acquiring Lightsynq, Capella Space and Oxford Ionics, adding cutting-edge capabilities in photonic interconnects, quantum memory and repeaters, satellite-based QKD, and ion-trap R&D. These moves position IonQ to build scalable systems with millions of qubits and enable a future quantum Internet. At the same time, partnerships like DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, a 12% performance gain with Ansys at NVIDIA NVDA GTC and advanced QPU simulations on Forte Enterprise highlight its leadership in next-generation quantum and networking technologies.

Growing Revenues, Margins and Strong 2025 Outlook: IonQ delivered $7.6 million in revenues in first-quarter 2025, representing solid year-over-year growth, while also reducing its net loss to $32.3 million from $39.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. The company also narrowed its adjusted EBITDA loss to $25.8 million, reflecting improved cost discipline, operational leverage and expanding commercial traction. Management is also confident about delivering $37-41 million in full-year 2025 revenues, driven by increased demand for its high-performance systems like Forte and Tempo, and stronger enterprise engagements across AI, defense, and scientific research.

Financial Position & Capital Raising: IonQ closed the first quarter of 2025 with approximately $697 million in cash equivalents. The company later announced a $1 billion equity offering, boosting pro-forma cash reserves to about $1.68 billion that can be used to fund R&D, acquisitions and commercialization.

QBTS Outperforms IONQ and Benchmark YTD

Year to date, shares of D-Wave Quantum have surged 141.6%, handily outperforming the S&P 500’s 8.5% rise. Contrastingly, IonQ underperformed both, with a 3.6% rise in its stock price during the same period.

YTD Price Comparison

Which Stock to Bet on in 2025?

While D-Wave Quantum and IonQ are pursuing distinct quantum strategies, QBTS’ strong near-term traction, margin gains and stock growth give it an edge for 2025 returns. IonQ’s long-term vision remains compelling, but its slower revenue ramp-up and larger losses suggest a longer runway to commercialization. With both stocks carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), investors seeking nearer-term gains may find QBTS better positioned for outperformance this year compared to IONQ. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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