IonQ Stock Rallies 25% on Nvidia (NVDA) Comparison

IonQ (IONQ) stock saw a massive rally on Thursday after CEO Peter Chapman said he wants the company to become the Nvidia (NVDA) of quantum computing. The CEO stated he believes “IonQ will be the Nvidia player” when comparing Nvidia to Broadcom (AVGO) in the graphics processing unit (GPU) market.

Chapman made bold remarks about the future of IonQ, while also throwing shade as its rivals. He noted that, “There will be other people that copy us and follow us; they have always copied and followed us.”

The executive also highlighted the company’s position in the quantum computing race. IonQ is the largest public company in the sector, with a market capitalization of roughly $11.26 billion. Its closest competitor is D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), with a $5.96 billion market cap. Interestingly, QBTS stock has rallied over 20% today, potentially moving in sympathy with IONQ stock.

IONQ Stock Movement and Recent Analyst Rating

The positive comments from the IonQ CEO and his Nvidia comparison bolstered investor confidence on Thursday. That resulted in a 27.28% rally, fueled by 27.18 million shares traded today, compared to a three-month daily average trading volume of 16.63 million units.

It’s not just Chapman that believes IonQ is on the road to dominate the quantum computing market. Analysts are also largely bullish on this. Five-star Benchmark analyst David Williams reiterated a Buy rating and $40 price target for IONQ stock when he updated his coverage last week.

Is IONQ Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for IonQ is Strong Buy, based on four Buy and one Hold ratings over the last three months. With that comes an average IONQ stock price target of $40, representing a potential 6.99% downside for the shares.

TipRank’s AI Analyst isn’t nearly as bullish on IONQ with a Neutral 55 rating and a price target of $34, implying a possible 21.02% drop.

See more IONQ stock analyst ratings