What Happened?
Shares of quantum computing company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) jumped 9.8% in the afternoon session after reports the U.S. Commerce Department was in talks to take an equity stake in the company in exchange for federal funding. The news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, sent shares of several U.S. quantum computing firms higher. The discussions involved arrangements where companies like IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum would grant equity to the government. In return for the stake, the firms would receive funding awards, with reports suggesting a minimum of $10 million for each company. The possibility of direct federal investment signaled strong government support for the industry, boosting investor confidence.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $57.68, up 4% 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 about 23 hours ago when the stock dropped 11.5% on the news that new trade tensions and disappointing earnings from major tech companies weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
A key driver was the news that the White House is considering new restrictions on Chinese exports that use U.S. software, a move that could significantly impact technology companies. This uncertainty over escalating trade tensions created a broad sense of worry in the market. Simultaneously, shares of the semiconductor giant Texas Instruments dropped 6% after its latest earnings and future revenue forecast both came in weaker than expected, which is a big concern for the health of the tech industry. This poor performance from Texas Instruments immediately dragged down the entire semiconductor sector, causing other major chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology to also see significant declines.
Compounding the bad news, streaming service Netflix saw its stock slump 9% after it missed its earnings targets, partly blaming a tax dispute in Brazil. The combined effect of renewed trade war fears and the direct evidence of underperformance from influential companies in the technology sector was enough to push the major market indexes lower.
IonQ is up 33.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $57.68 per share, it is still trading 29.7% below its 52-week high of $82.09 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of IonQ’s shares at the IPO in January 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $5,340.
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