Why IonQ Stock Keeps Going Down
Key Points
Wolfpack Research published a "short" report on IonQ yesterday.
Wolfpack believes IonQ has lost its biggest defense contracts in Congress.
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IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) stock is in a tailspin.
Down six trading sessions in a row, shares of the biggest name in quantum computing (IonQ is valued at $14 billion, more than Rigetti (NASDAQ: RGTI) and D-Wave (NYSE: QBTS) combined) added 8.8% to their losses Thursday.
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That's the tally as of 12:45 p.m. ET -- and IonQ stock is still going down.
You can blame Wolfpack Research for that.
Image source: Getty Images.
Wolfpack shorts IonQ
Wolfpack is a short seller, so it's perhaps unsurprising to learn that yesterday it published a report urging investors to sell IonQ stock short.
Why? IonQ exploded in popularity on the back of massive revenue growth. Five years ago, IonQ did barely $2 million a year in sales, but from 2022 to 2024, sales soared to $11 million, $22 million, then $43 million! (At last report, sales were on course to double again in 2025.)
But Wolfpack explains in its 33-page short report that "up to 86%" of IonQ's 2022-2024 revenue came from Pentagon contracts that Congress is no longer funding; its largest contract was "completely" stripped from the fiscal 2026 defense budget.
This creates "a $54.6 million black hole in [IonQ's] expected quantum computing revenues," warns Wolfpack. The analyst says revenues have not taken an obvious hit yet, only because IonQ has been replacing the canceled government contracts with revenue from "subpar non-quantum computing companies" that IonQ has been acquiring.
Is IonQ stock a sell?
IonQ lost $1.5 billion in 2025 and burned through $259 million in cash, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Analysts see losses continuing as far out as anyone's making estimates -- and now Wolfpack is questioning whether IonQ can even continue growing profitless revenues.
The safest choice today is probably to sell.
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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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