TLDR
- IonQ stock traded near $28.89 premarket Friday, up about 9% after a 11% drop Thursday.
- Q3 revenue hit $173.8 million, up 336% and well above the $141.71 million estimate.
- SkyWater’s foundry business brought in $83.5 million, close to half the total.
- The 2026 revenue forecast rose to $505 million to $515 million from $280 million to $290 million.
- NVIDIA will deploy an IonQ Superion 256 system, and IonQ advanced to DARPA’s final benchmarking stage.
IonQ (IONQ) stock was trading near $28.89 in premarket on Friday, up about 9%. That came after a Thursday close of $26.43, down 11%.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% that day as investors took profits. IonQ reported its third-quarter results after the closing bell.
Revenue came in at $173.8 million, up 336% from a year ago. Analysts had expected $141.71 million.
Adjusted loss per share was $0.29, better than the $0.31 loss Wall Street expected. It was IonQ’s sixth record quarter in a row.
Half the Revenue Came From a Chip Foundry
SkyWater Foundry Services brought in $83.5 million, close to half of the total. The IonQ Platform segment added $90.3 million, up 127%.
Global deployments of Tempo quantum computers drove most of the platform sales. Revenue from non-IonQ quantum customers at SkyWater rose more than 30%.
IonQ also booked $28 million from a DARPA contract for 25 atomic clocks. Between clocks and chips, it now supplies roughly a dozen other quantum companies.
A $33 million deal with Korea’s SDT was another big contributor. It covers a Superion 256 quantum computer and a quantum memory platform for an SDT customer in South Korea.
NVIDIA will also deploy a Superion 256 system at its Accelerated Quantum Research Center. It will be the first on-premise quantum computer there.
Guidance Nearly Doubles
IonQ lifted its 2026 revenue forecast to $505 million to $515 million. In August, it had guided to $280 million to $290 million.
The $510 million midpoint tops the analyst consensus of $455.11 million. The company expects quantum computing revenue to grow 110% this year.
CEO Niccolo de Masi says IonQ wants to be the first pure-play quantum company to reach 10 figures of revenue. “I’m not saying exactly when, but obviously we’ll be trying to do it in the next year or two,” he said.
The stock had slid nearly 40% over the past month heading into the report. A $2 billion equity offering sparked dilution worries, and speculative tech was out of favor.
IonQ is the only trapped-ion company to reach Stage C of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. The program has a potential value of up to $300 million.
GAAP earnings per share came in at $1.42, helped by non-cash warrant marks. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $133.6 million.
The equity offering closed October 16. Cash stood at $1.7 billion on September 30, or $3.7 billion pro forma.
