Could Investing $10,000 in IonQ Stock Make You a Millionaire?

Investing in early-stage companies like IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) with major upside in the quantum computing space is an attractive proposition. If you pick the right stocks, it could provide life-changing returns. Some are even calling IonQ stock a millionaire-maker stock.

Could a $10,000 investment in IonQ really make you a millionaire? Let's take a look.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

IonQ would be a giant company if it rose 100-fold

Turning a $10,000 investment into a $1 million sum requires finding a stock that can rise 100x. Few stocks in the market have done this, but there are several examples out there. However, history is not on IonQ's side. IonQ is currently a $10 billion company, so it would need to become a $1 trillion company to reach this goal. There aren't a ton of $1 trillion companies on the market, but the list is growing bigger each year.

One company fairly similar to IonQ that was valued at more than $1 trillion prior to selling off was AMD (NASDAQ: AMD). While AMD is valued at $762 billion now, it's a great stock to compare IonQ to because they both make computing units. Over the past 12 months, AMD's revenue has totaled over $40 billion.

AMD Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts.

So, for IonQ to get into the $1 trillion club, its revenue must reach that or even higher. McKinsey & Company estimates that the global quantum computing market could generate up to $72 billion annually by 2035, so if IonQ captures the whole market, this revenue figure isn't too far-fetched. However, capturing all of it will be a tall task, as there are several potent competitors with huge cash backing that could challenge IonQ in the quantum computing realm.

As a result, I don't think achieving a $1 trillion valuation is in the cards for IonQ anytime soon.

Furthermore, IonQ is a very high-risk company. Putting any more than 1% of your total portfolio into IonQ's stock would be very risky. If 1% of your portfolio equals $10,000, congratulations, you're already a millionaire!

So, can a $10,000 investment in IonQ make you a millionaire? I'd say no. Additionally, investing $10,000 in a much smaller portfolio than $1 million would be very risky and could have some major implications for your long-term returns if it doesn't work out. However, that doesn't mean IonQ is a bad investment -- just that investors need to temper their expectations.

Keithen Drury has positions in IonQ. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.