IONQ Stock Jumps Despite Wider Q3 Losses: Hold or Book Profit Now?

Despite a steep GAAP loss of $3.58 per share in the third quarter of 2025, much wider than the expected 44 cents loss and the 24 cents loss a year earlier, IonQ, Inc. IONQ is gaining investor confidence, thanks to strong underlying performance. Revenues were up significantly and exceeded the top end of its guidance by 37%. Key strategic growth drivers include a world-record 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, the early delivery of its #AQ 64 algorithmic qubit milestone and strategic acquisitions of Oxford Ionics and Vector Atomic to bolster its full-stack quantum platform. These momentum indicators appear to have supported the stock’s rally, with shares rising about 7.6% since the earnings release on Nov. 4.

Share Comparison Since IONQ's Q3 Release

During this period, the stock outperformed the industry, sector and S&P 500 Index’s 4.3%, 0.6% and 0.5% gains, respectively. IONQ’s peers, Rigetti Computing RGTI and D-Wave Quantum  QBTS, declined 2.3% and 4.5% respectively, in this period.

Revenue Acceleration & Commercial Momentum

In the third quarter, IonQ delivered $39.9 million in revenues, marking a 222% year-over-year increase and surpassing the high end of its own guidance by 37%. This performance prompted management to raise its full-year 2025 revenue outlook to $106-$110 million, reflecting strong execution and accelerating customer adoption. Growth has been fueled by a surge in government and enterprise contracts, increasing global diversification (from nearly 100% U.S. revenue a year ago to roughly 70% U.S. and 30% international) and the rising uptake of IonQ’s systems through major cloud platforms. These results signal that IonQ’s commercialization phase is gaining momentum, supported by a solid pipeline of multi-year deals.

Technology & Platform Leadership

IonQ’s one major growth engine is its path toward a fully integrated, “full-stack” quantum platform. In the third quarter, the company achieved a world-record 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, underscoring superior error control and scalability potential. It also reached its milestone of #AQ 64 algorithmic qubits three months early, revealing what IonQ describes as “36 quadrillion times larger computational space” versus leading commercial superconducting systems.

On the corporate development side, the completion of the acquisitions of Oxford Ionics and Vector Atomic strengthens IonQ’s roadmap toward error-corrected, fault-tolerant quantum computing and builds out its quantum sensing & networking capabilities, expanding its TAM into AI, materials science, cyberspace and national-security applications.

Stumbling Blocks

Despite IonQ’s rapid top-line expansion, the company faces several near-term stumbling blocks that could weigh on profitability and investor sentiment. The most pressing issue is its deepening net losses, with a GAAP loss of $3.58 per share in the third quarter of 2025, heavily impacted by non-cash warrant revaluations and acquisition-related costs tied to Oxford Ionics and Vector Atomic. Even on an adjusted basis, the company reported a 17-cent loss per share, reflecting ongoing high R&D and operating expenses.

Meanwhile, for IONQ, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 loss per share has remained unchanged over the past 30 days at $1.58, as you can see below. The estimated figure, however, indicates a wider loss than the year-ago reported loss of $1.56 per share.

Lofty Valuation Too

IonQ’s forward 12-month price/sales (P/S) ratio of 127.69 is far above the industry average, as you can see below.

However, the stock remained undervalued compared to D-Wave’s P/S of 265.95X and Rigetti’s P/S of 531.28X.

Final Take

While IonQ’s long-term outlook remains promising, driven by its technological leadership, expanding commercialization and growing enterprise adoption, the stock’s near-term upside appears limited. This Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock’s steep and widening losses, both GAAP and adjusted, reflect the high cash burn required to sustain R&D and integration efforts following its recent acquisitions. Moreover, IonQ’s lofty valuation leaves little room for near-term growth flexibility.

Despite robust revenue acceleration, profitability remains distant and the path to achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing is still several years away. Investors may also see volatility as the company navigates the capital-intensive phase of scaling quantum hardware and securing recurring revenue streams. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research