IonQ Inc. (IONQ) shares surged over 12% Thursday, and it looks like quantum computing enthusiasm might be making a comeback. After spending the past month nursing losses of about 15%, the quantum stock appears to have found its footing around the $40 mark and is now climbing again.
Here's what happened: IonQ actually rallied when it dropped solid earnings results in early November, but then joined the rest of the quantum sector in a slow drift downward. That initial post-earnings pop faded as investors got increasingly nervous about the whole quantum computing space. But now, with support established and holding, shares are picking up momentum that's pushed them more than 50% higher over the past year.
The Earnings That Started It All
Those November earnings were genuinely impressive. IonQ posted losses of 17 cents per share, which sounds bad until you realize analysts expected losses of 44 cents. That's a meaningful beat. Even better, it represented solid improvement from the 24-cent loss the company posted in the same quarter last year.
Revenue told an even better story. IonQ brought in $39.87 million for the quarter, crushing the analyst consensus of $26.98 million by nearly 48%. That's a 222% jump from the $12.4 million they posted a year earlier. These aren't incremental improvements; this is serious growth.
The company liked what it saw enough to raise its full-year 2025 guidance to $106-$110 million, up from the previous range of $82-$100 million. For context, analysts were expecting around $91.3 million, so this wasn't a minor adjustment.
The Quantum Winter
Despite IonQ's strong showing, November was rough for quantum computing stocks. The sector hit a cold streak as investors started questioning near-term profitability across the board. Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI) and D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) both saw double-digit declines in the first half of the month as skepticism spread.
Thursday's action suggests that selloff may have created some attractive entry points. Multiple quantum stocks recovered alongside IonQ, indicating renewed appetite for the sector. Sometimes a good shakeout clears the air.
What The Charts Say
From a technical perspective, IonQ is showing mixed signals. The stock is trading 10.8% above its 20-day simple moving average and 3.8% above its 100-day, which is encouraging. It's also sitting 29.3% above its 200-day moving average, reinforcing that long-term bullish trend.
But there's a catch: the stock is 8.4% below its 50-day moving average, suggesting some intermediate-term weakness worth watching. The RSI sits at 44.85, indicating neutral momentum, while the MACD is below its signal line, hinting at bearish pressure despite that longer-term uptrend.
Traders are watching support at $53 and resistance at $59.50. Breaking through either level could signal whether this recovery has legs or if the stock needs more time to consolidate.
The longer-term performance numbers tell a growth story: up 33% over three months, 36% over six months, and a hefty 63% over the past year. That's the kind of trajectory that keeps momentum investors interested.
IONQ Price Action: IonQ shares closed up 12.26% at $54.57 on Thursday.