IonQ Advances Millions-Qubit Roadmap but is the Stock Overpriced?

IonQ IONQ has pursued a technology consolidation strategy to accelerate its roadmap toward tens of millions of logical qubits. This approach also strengthens its leadership in quantum computing and networking.

The acquisition of Lightsynq brings photonic interconnect technology that enables scalable modular architectures, allowing multiple processors to be linked together and overcoming the single-processor scaling barrier. The pending acquisition of Oxford Ionics adds ion trap-on-chip capability, a breakthrough that supports IonQ’s ambitious path to 800 logical qubits by 2027 and 80,000 by 2030, with the long-term potential of millions of qubits per chip at significantly reduced costs.

With the recent close of Capella, IonQ is extending its capabilities into space by advancing satellite-enabled quantum networking and QKD infrastructure, positioning itself to deliver secure global communications. Meanwhile, ID Quantique strengthens IonQ’s commercial edge as a leader in Quantum Key Distribution, with production-grade, security-certified devices already deployed across governments, telecom and financial institutions.

Together, these acquisitions create a strong platform that combines scalable chips, modular interconnects, space-based quantum networking and cybersecurity. This positions IonQ to achieve tens of millions of logical qubits with low-cost, extensible architectures and an unmatched roadmap in the industry.

How Are IONQ Competitors Doing?

Rigetti RGTI: Technologically, Rigetti is advancing superconducting gate-based hardware via its chiplet architecture, with a 36-qubit system available and a 100+ qubit system at 99.5% two-qubit fidelity expected by year-end 2025. This leaves the company well-positioned to scale while retaining optionality for partnerships or acquisitions.

D-Wave Quantum QBTS: It is pursuing a commercially anchored growth strategy with strong M&A ambitions, backed by solid liquidity. D-Wave management recently highlighted plans for strategic acquisitions to accelerate its push into gate-model quantum computing, expanding beyond its annealing roots. Technologically, D-Wave launched Advantage2, its sixth-generation annealer, and is investing in advanced cryogenic packaging to scale both annealing and gate-model systems.

IONQ's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

IonQ shares have gained 14.7% in the past three months, outperforming the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry.

IonQ’s forward 12-month price/sales ratio of 87.18 is far above the industry average, as you can see below.

For IONQ, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 loss per share has widened over the past 30 days from 47 cents to 66 cents, as you can see below. The estimated figure, however, indicates a much narrower loss than the year-ago reported loss of $1.56 per share.

IONQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 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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