What Happened?
Shares of quantum computing company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) jumped 36.3% in the afternoon session after renewed enthusiasm for quantum computing following the sharp pullback in the first quarter of the year.
While specific news for the day wasn't immediately apparent to have caused a major surge, the company has had a series of positive announcements, including strong Q1 2025 earnings that beat analyst estimates.
Earlier in the week, the company announced a collaboration with Swedish company Einride to develop quantum solutions for fleet routing, logistics optimization, and supply chain solutions. This would also extend to Einride's autonomous and electric fleet operations worldwide, two of the fast evolving tech markets, which hold a lot of opportunities and growth potential.
Adding to the optimism, the company's CEO reiterated its ambitious mission to become the 'Nvidia of quantum computing' in an interview with Barron's.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
IonQ’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 105 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for IonQ and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 1 month ago when the stock gained 7.9% on the news that investor sentiment improved on renewed optimism that the US-China trade conflict might be nearing a resolution. According to reports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced this positive outlook by describing the trade war as "unsustainable," and emphasized that a potential agreement between the two economic powers "was possible." His comments signaled to markets that both sides might be motivated to seek common ground, raising expectations for reduced tariffs and more stability across markets.
IonQ is up 7.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $46.27 per share, it is still trading 9.4% below its 52-week high of $51.07 from January 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 $4,284.
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