IonQ Stock Pops After Quantum Breakthrough, Nvidia Partnership

IonQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ) stock is buzzing this morning, up 5.2% to trade at $42.69, and earlier trading as high as $46.05, after the quantum computing company demonstrated the industry's first end-to-end real-time quantum error decoder. Separately, IonQ will team with Nvidia (NVDA) to advance the first QPU to Nvidia's Accelerated Quantum Research Center. Sector peers Rigetti Computing (RGTI) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) are paring their premarket gains, up 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, at last look.

IONQ has now cleared its year-to-date breakeven level with today's pop. While the shares are now above a confluence of moving averages, they remain a ways off their Oct. 13 record high of $84.64. Keep an eye on $50, which is roughly double the stock's March 30 52-week low of $25.89.

A short squeeze could put that number in play. Short interest is down 18% in the two most recent reporting periods, yet the 41.05 million shares sold short account for 10.4% of IONQ's total available float.

Call traders are out in droves. In just the first half hour of trading, 37,000 calls have changed hands, volume that's eight times the average intraday amount and triple the number of puts exchanged. The weekly 9/25 45-strike call is the most popular, while new positions are being bought to open at the 43-strike in the same series.

Options are affordably priced. The stock's Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 60% stands in the bottom percentile of its annual range. IonQ also sports a Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 96 out of 100, indicating the equity has tended to exceed option traders' volatility expectations during the past 12 months.