What Happened?
Shares of quantum computing company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) jumped 3.1% in the afternoon session after B. Riley Securities raised its price target on the stock to $100 from $75 and maintained its 'Buy' rating.
The new price target suggested a potential upside of nearly 37% from its trading level at the time of the announcement. Analyst Craig Ellis's decision reflected a more positive outlook for the company's future performance. This bullish signal from the analyst firm occurred while the stock was already on a strong run. The shares were on their seventh straight day of gains, accumulating a total return of 61% over that period and adding significant value to the company's market capitalization.
The shares closed the day at $71.94, up 2.1% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
IonQ’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 108 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock gained 5.7% on the news that the stock's positive momentum continued as the company announced a major partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and revealed a deal to acquire quantum sensing firm Vector Atomic.
IonQ signed a memorandum of understanding with the department to help advance quantum technologies in space, which called for an orbital demonstration of quantum-secure communications. This news arrived alongside the announcement of an agreement to acquire Vector Atomic, a move that accelerated IonQ's entry into the quantum sensing market and strengthened its technology platform. The acquisition brought with it over $200 million in existing government contracts for Vector Atomic.
These developments occurred as the broader quantum computing sector rallied, with many investors seeing IonQ as a leader driving the gains. Wall Street reacted positively, with analysts at Benchmark raising their price target on the stock to $75 from $55, maintaining a Buy rating.
IonQ is up 65.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $71.33 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of IonQ’s shares at the IPO in January 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $6,605.
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