Key Takeaways:
IonQ lifted its 2026 revenue forecast by more than half to as much as $460 million, and shares climbed 11.3 percent in early trading.
"As we prepare to host our first joint Investor Day today, our updated full-year guidance highlights both the market traction of our quantum platform and the foundational manufacturing scale provided by SkyWater," Niccolo de Masi, chairman and chief executive officer of IonQ, said.
The College Park, Maryland-based company now expects revenue of $450 million to $460 million for the year, up from a prior range of $280 million to $290 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had projected $289.7 million. The outlook includes SkyWater Technology contributions from July 31, the date the chipmaker was acquired, through Dec. 31, and removes estimated intercompany revenue under the companies' pre-existing commercial agreement. IonQ agreed to buy SkyWater for $1.8 billion in January.
Shares traded at $43.56, up 10.2 percent, after closing at $39.52 on Monday. The raise precedes IonQ's first joint Investor Day on Tuesday, where management is set to outline a roadmap toward commercial-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing. IonQ reported first-quarter revenue of $64.7 million and ended the period with remaining performance obligations of $470 million, with commercial customers generating about 60 percent of sales.
The company also unveiled the IonQ Superion 256, its sixth-generation quantum computing platform, alongside the guidance update. IonQ, whose customers include Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca and Nvidia, said it reached 99.99 percent two-qubit gate fidelity in 2025.
The stock had fallen 37 percent over the past 90 days and was down 15.5 percent year to date before Tuesday's move, though it has returned 104 percent over three years. The rebound puts IonQ ahead of quantum peers such as Rigetti Computing as investors weigh whether the SkyWater deal can turn a research-heavy business into a manufacturing-led one.
The new range puts IonQ's revenue base more than 60 percent above the $289.7 million that Wall Street had modeled, a gap management attributes to both quantum demand and SkyWater's manufacturing scale. Investors will watch Tuesday's Investor Day webcast at 12:30 p.m. Eastern for multiyear forecasts and for signs that the company's $470 million order backlog is converting into billed revenue.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
