Is It Too Late to Buy IonQ Stock After Its 198% Rally?

The estimated size of the quantum computing industry was just $1.5 billion in 2025, but according to a forecast from Fortune Business Insights, it could grow by more than 10 times to $18.3 billion by 2034. While that still would be a relatively small market, that projection could prove conservative as the technology matures enough to be applied to a wider range of use cases.

One of the early leaders in that market is IonQ (NYSE: IONQ). Though it has been through many ups and downs along the way, the stock price has still climbed by 198% over the last five years.

Let's take a look at whether there's more potential upside ahead.

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The opportunity in quantum computing

IonQ operates a "full-stack approach" in quantum computing, providing clients with cloud access, software, and hardware.

One of its customers is Hyundai. The Korean automaker is using IonQ's technology in an attempt to accelerate the training of its autonomous vehicle image classification system. Hyundai says that by bringing quantum machine learning to bear on vast volumes of training data, it "could improve vehicles' understanding of the nature and location of objects, people, and environments around them."

IonQ's revenue is growing at a solid clip. It climbed 202% in 2025 to $130 million, and management is guiding for another year of impressive growth in 2026, forecasting revenue of $225 million to $245 million.

The company remains deeply unprofitable, with a net loss in 2025 of $510 million, but as of the end of December 2025, it had a backstop of $3.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments on its books -- enough to keep operations running for years.

Risk factors

Most of IonQ's stock price gains have been driven by investor enthusiasm for what it could achieve in the eventual future rather than by its current or near-term results.

Because it's an unprofitable company, many of the traditional metrics used to gauge stock valuations can't be applied to it. One that we can use, though, is the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. Its P/S of 71.1 is not unusual in the quantum computing industry, but it's still lofty. This isn't a bargain stock by any stretch of the imagination.

It's also an investment that will require a strong stomach. With a beta of 2.7, IonQ's stock price moves with more than twice as much volatility as the broader market average. And while IonQ's stock price is up 198% over the last five years, it's also down roughly 26% thus far in 2026.

IonQ is still in the early stages of evolving into what it could become. Its technology is far from mature yet, and it's vying for position in a nascent space that's filled with competitors both small and massive. But it is making headway. For those who understand the risks and the speculative nature of this investment, and who can handle the ups and downs, it's not too late to consider investing in IonQ.

Jack Delaney 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.