Updated: Wednesday, December 17, 2025
IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ) is back in the spotlight on December 17, 2025—this time not because of earnings, but because Wall Street is rapidly building out coverage of the “pure-play” quantum computing names. Wedbush initiated coverage on IonQ today with an Outperform rating and a $60 price target, one day after Jefferies initiated with a Buy and a much higher $100 target. [1]
Despite those bullish headlines, IonQ stock is down sharply intraday. As of 19:16 UTC (mid-afternoon in New York), IONQ traded at $46.95, down about 5.48% on the day, after opening above $50 and swinging between an intraday high of $52.08 and low of $46.84 on heavy volume.
That mix—bullish new analyst coverage, followed by a fast pullback—captures the core story around IonQ stock right now: momentum is strong, expectations are higher, and volatility is still the rule rather than the exception.
What’s happening with IonQ stock on Dec. 17, 2025
1) IonQ reversed lower after a big “initiation pop” the prior session
IonQ surged on Tuesday after Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating, helping push the stock up strongly in a broader quantum-stock move. Barron’s specifically noted IonQ climbed 7.8% on the Jefferies initiation. [2]
But by Wednesday, the tone shifted from “fresh coverage tailwind” to “profit-taking and reality check.” Daily price history shows IonQ closed Tuesday at $49.67 after a +7.81% move—then slid Wednesday as traders faded the rally. [3]
2) Wedbush initiated coverage today—bullish, but less aggressive than Jefferies
Wedbush initiated IonQ today with Outperform and a $60 target (about 21% upside from where the stock was trading at the time of the note, per Investing.com’s summary). Wedbush framed IonQ’s trapped-ion architecture as differentiated, while stressing the industry is still early and adoption remains limited. [4]
3) Options flow and technical commentary added to the noise
Benzinga highlighted unusual options activity and characterized the positioning as bearish among certain larger traders, underscoring how speculative and fast-moving the stock has become. [5]
Meanwhile, Investor’s Business Daily reported IonQ’s Relative Strength (RS) Rating rose from 78 to 86, a momentum-positive technical datapoint—while also cautioning that strong RS alone doesn’t automatically mean a low-risk entry. [6]
The latest analyst calls: IonQ price targets are widening, not converging
IonQ is now getting the kind of coverage cadence usually reserved for hotter, narrative-driven sectors. The most market-moving calls this week:
- Wedbush (Dec. 17): Outperform, $60 price target. [7]
- Jefferies (Dec. 16): Buy, $100 price target. [8]
- Mizuho (initiated earlier in Dec.): Outperform, $90 price target (as summarized by Barron’s). [9]
Where that leaves “consensus” is tricky, because IonQ is still a small, emerging-revenue story, and valuation frameworks differ wildly. Still, several aggregations point to a broad range:
- MarketBeat lists an average target around $70, with a high of $100 and a low of $30 (based on its tracked analyst set). [10]
- MarketScreener (via MT Newswires) referenced a FactSet mean price target of $76.91 and an “overweight” average rating. [11]
- Barron’s wrote that IonQ targets are between $60 and $100, reflecting the Wedbush/Jefferies spread. [12]
The key takeaway for investors: Wall Street isn’t debating whether IonQ is “interesting.” The debate is about how soon quantum becomes commercial at scale, and how much of that future should be priced in today.
Why analysts are leaning into IonQ now: the “platform” pitch is getting louder
Analysts are not just selling IonQ as a quantum-computing hardware company. They’re increasingly framing it as a broader quantum infrastructure platform spanning computing, networking, sensing, and security.
IonQ’s roadmap is being used as the valuation anchor
Jefferies laid out a multi-step roadmap that stretches from the near term into the end of the decade—moving from hundreds of qubits to large-scale, fault-tolerant goals. [13]
Importantly, IonQ itself continues to emphasize ambitious long-term objectives. In its Q3 2025 release, the company reiterated an intent to deliver extremely large systems by 2030 and highlighted performance milestones like 99.99% two-qubit gate performance as part of its narrative toward fault tolerance. [14]
The networking-and-security angle is no longer theoretical
IonQ (through its ID Quantique subsidiary) has stacked up real-world security infrastructure announcements in Europe:
- Switzerland (Dec. 16, 2025): ID Quantique (an IonQ company) and Cisco announced a completed upgrade that made a connection between two Swiss data centers “quantum-resistant,” integrating Cisco SKIP with IDQ’s Solteris solution. [15]
- Slovakia (Dec. 8, 2025): IonQ announced deployment of Slovakia’s first national quantum communication network, positioned as part of Europe’s EuroQCI initiative and combining QKD and post-quantum cryptography elements. [16]
For investors, these releases matter because they support a central bull thesis: IonQ may generate commercial traction earlier in quantum security/networking than in universal fault-tolerant computing—and those earlier wins can fund the longer compute roadmap.
IonQ fundamentals check: rapid growth, still unprofitable, heavily capitalized
IonQ’s story is not “earnings power today.” It’s “fund the roadmap now; monetize later.”
What IonQ reported most recently
In its Q3 2025 results, IonQ reported:
- Revenue of $39.9 million for the quarter, described as 222% year-over-year growth. [17]
- Full-year 2025 revenue guidance raised to $106 million–$110 million. [18]
- Net loss of $1.1 billion (with IonQ also reporting adjusted metrics), alongside commentary highlighting the company’s scale-up phase. [19]
- A pro-forma cash, cash equivalents, and investments figure of $3.5 billion after a $2 billion equity offering that closed in October. [20]
That cash position is one reason IonQ remains a favored “pure play” among quantum names. The company is effectively telling the market: we can afford to keep investing until quantum demand catches up.
M&A has been part of the acceleration strategy
IonQ completed its acquisition of Oxford Ionics earlier in 2025, describing it as a roadmap accelerant and a way to deepen capabilities and global footprint. [21]
It has also been expanding into quantum infrastructure and communications, including announcing plans to acquire Skyloom Global to add optical communications terminals and expand quantum networking capabilities. [22]
IonQ stock forecast: what bulls and bears are really betting on for 2026
There’s no single “IonQ stock forecast” that dominates today’s coverage. Instead, there are two competing timelines:
The bull timeline: early commercial wins + improving ecosystem support
Jefferies argued that improving ecosystem support and rising enterprise experimentation are starting to translate into more durable commercial opportunities across the quantum sector—and highlighted IonQ’s trapped-ion architecture and expansion into networking and sensing. [23]
Barron’s also framed quantum as becoming a legitimate (though still unprofitable) sector on Wall Street’s radar, with IonQ viewed as the largest “pure play” and price targets clustering $60–$100 depending on the analyst. [24]
The bear timeline: hype outruns adoption
The bear case is essentially: great tech, too early, too expensive.
- Wedbush acknowledged quantum remains nascent and adoption is limited, even while it rated IonQ Outperform. [25]
- The Motley Fool argued that quantum computing stocks have shown signs of a classic “next-big-thing” bubble dynamic—suggesting the industry’s excitement can overshoot fundamentals. [26]
- Options activity coverage this week also underscored the speculative nature of current positioning. [27]
The practical implication: IonQ may keep trading more like a “theme stock” than a traditional fundamentals stock—especially into 2026—until revenue becomes repeatable and clearly scalable.
Why IonQ is so volatile right now
IonQ’s volatility is not mysterious; it’s structural:
- Valuation is forward-loaded. Price targets and models often lean heavily on 2028–2030 assumptions. [28]
- News flow is catalyst-driven. Initiations, partnerships, government-related wins, and roadmap milestones can trigger sharp re-ratings in either direction. [29]
- The stock is still “narrative-sensitive.” That’s amplified by active retail participation, options flow, and headline momentum in “quantum computing stocks.” [30]
A simple example: on the morning of Dec. 17, Nasdaq’s “pre-market most active” list showed IonQ trading around $50.43 in early action—yet later in the session the stock was back in the mid-$40s. [31]
What to watch next for IonQ stock
If you’re following IonQ stock into year-end and early 2026, the most market-moving items are likely to be:
- Follow-through on commercial traction (not just partnerships): recurring revenue patterns and customer expansion. [32]
- Roadmap execution (system performance, error rates, and scalable architectures), because multiple analysts are anchoring valuations to roadmap credibility. [33]
- Quantum networking/security deployments in government and critical infrastructure—where IonQ/IDQ announcements in Europe show a concrete use case today. [34]
- Capital strategy and dilution risk. IonQ is well-capitalized, but investors will still track how aggressively it spends to chase the long roadmap. [35]
- Sector sentiment: quantum “pure plays” are now being covered as a cohort, which means IonQ can move on peer news—even when IonQ itself says nothing. [36]
Bottom line on IonQ (IONQ) stock on Dec. 17, 2025
IonQ is ending 2025 with a rare combination: fresh bullish coverage from major firms, high-profile quantum-security deployments, and a cash position large enough to keep funding an ambitious roadmap. [37]
At the same time, today’s selloff shows the market is still wrestling with the core question: how quickly does quantum move from pilot projects to revenue that scales—and how much of that future should be priced in now? [38]
As of this afternoon, traders are answering that question with volatility—IONQ is down around 5% on the day after swinging from the low $50s into the mid-$40s. [39]
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.barrons.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.investing.com, 5. www.benzinga.com, 6. www.investors.com, 7. www.investing.com, 8. www.investing.com, 9. www.barrons.com, 10. www.marketbeat.com, 11. www.marketscreener.com, 12. www.barrons.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. investors.ionq.com, 15. www.idquantique.com, 16. investors.ionq.com, 17. investors.ionq.com, 18. investors.ionq.com, 19. investors.ionq.com, 20. investors.ionq.com, 21. investors.ionq.com, 22. investors.ionq.com, 23. www.investing.com, 24. www.barrons.com, 25. www.investing.com, 26. www.fool.com, 27. www.benzinga.com, 28. www.investing.com, 29. www.barrons.com, 30. www.benzinga.com, 31. www.nasdaq.com, 32. www.investing.com, 33. www.investing.com, 34. www.idquantique.com, 35. investors.ionq.com, 36. www.investing.com, 37. www.investing.com, 38. www.investing.com, 39. stockanalysis.com
