With year-to-date gains of about 283%, IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), a quantum computing hardware and software company, is among the top-performing stocks this year. IONQ’s eye-popping rally indicates that the stock has soared enough in a short span, and a pullback could be coming based on the consensus price target from analysts. Moreover, its current price ($13.20 on June 28) is about 20% higher than five-star-rated Needham analyst Quinn Bolton’s price target of $11.
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Bolton is the most accurate analyst for IONQ stock, according to TipRanks. Copying Bolton’s trades on IONQ stock and holding each position for one year would have resulted in 100% of your transactions generating a profit, with an average return of 56.97% per trade.
Investors should note that Quinn Bolton also ranks #1 on TipRanks’ top analysts list with a success rate of 73% and an average return of 39.5%. Bolton’s best rating has been on ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR). His Buy call on ACMR stock generated a stellar return of 608.4% from August 19, 2019, to August 19, 2020.
TipRanks identifies the Top Wall Street analysts per sector, per timeframe, and against different benchmarks. The ranking reflects an analyst’s ability to deliver high returns through recommendations. TipRanks’ algorithms then calculate the statistical significance of each rating, the analysts’ overall success rate, and the average return per rating.
A Top Play in an Emerging Market
Quantum technology is an emerging space and is gaining investors’ attention due to its solid growth potential. According to IONQ, experts predict a total addressable market of about $65 billion by 2030. IONQ being the first pure-play quantum computing company in the market, and with its latest generation system, is poised to gain from the rising demand, noted Bolton.
Investors should note that for quantum computers, the quality of qubits, also known as fidelity, is most important. Fidelity is measured in algorithmic qubits or AQ. The higher the AQ, the better it is. IONQ achieved the technical milestone of 29 algorithmic qubits with its latest generation system and recently launched it for commercial use.
IONQ also announced its first systems sales agreement with QuantumBasel to bring two IonQ future quantum systems with 35AQ and 64AQ. With this agreement, the company raised its 2023 booking expectations to between $45 million and $55 million from the previous range of $38 million to $42 million.
The company is focused on developing top-quality quantum computers with vast utility in the real world. Further, it has a strong cash position and is sufficiently funded to achieve profitability in the coming years.
The analyst believes that IonQ’s latest generation system could drive “efficiencies in continuous system scaling and revenue bookings.” The analyst noted that the company’s trapped-ion quantum computers have posted “better metrics’ than its peers, and IONQ will “benefit from growing influx of capital and attention to the quantum industry.”
What is the Price Target for IonQ Stock?
While IonQ is a leader in the quantum computing industry, the recent growth in its stock price indicates that the positives are priced into the stock. For instance, IONQ stock sports a market cap of over $2.68 billion, even with a small sales outlook of $18.8 million to $19.2 million for 2023.
IONQ has received three Buy and two Hold recommendations for a Moderate Buy consensus rating. Further, the average IONQ stock price target of $8.75 implies 34.46% downside potential.
