r/IonQ

I’ve been a long-time ETF investor, mostly focused on global index funds. It’s worked well, but I’ve always been a little butthurt about missing some of the really big opportunities.

My biggest investing mistake was back in 2019 when I put $5k into a laser uranium enrichment technology company.

During COVID, I sold for around $20k and thought I had done pretty well. If I had simply held, it would be worth roughly $70k today and peaked at around $180k.

Recently, I sold some of my lower-performing ETFs with the intention of moving the money into other ETFs.

Then I thought to myself:

“Fuck it. I’m never going to make big money if all my wealth is tied to the entire market.”

So I spent the last few weeks looking for what I believe could be the next major technological trend. After a lot of research, I concluded that IonQ is worth betting a small portion of my wealth on with a 5–10 year time horizon.

My anecdotally solid reasoning:

1. Strong founders and backing

The company was founded by highly respected researchers in the field and has attracted backing, partnerships, and interest from major institutions and technology companies. That doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s a good starting point.

2. Quantum computing feels like a worthwhile industry to bet on

I’m not claiming to be an expert on quantum computing. I just think there’s a reasonable chance it becomes a much bigger industry over the next decade than it is today. If that happens, I want some exposure to it.

3. They seem to be executing

A lot of companies in emerging industries talk about what they’ll do in the future. IonQ appears to be making progress today, with revenue growing several hundred percent year-over-year and an increasing number of commercial agreements and partnerships.

4. They have a clear vision and seem to be moving towards it

What I like is that management appears focused on building a real business rather than chasing hype. So far, they seem to be hitting milestones and continuing to advance the technology.

5. The technology keeps improving

This is obviously one of the biggest unknowns, but from what I’ve seen, the company continues to make technical progress and invest heavily in its roadmap.
Obviously, this investment is ultimately a bet on both IonQ and the future of quantum computing. Nobody knows how this plays out.

If I’m wrong, I’m comfortable losing $50k.

If I’m right, maybe for the first time in my investing career I’ll get to be the guy saying, “I told you so.”

Good luck to everyone, including myself.

https://preview.redd.it/r51fhscz5sah1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=99d0355b57de73d70365a03bedeef8a37602e7dc

https://preview.redd.it/h8zmfm146sah1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=73b0b850a46a603adbc8f7dc06a7bc0d5615117a

According to IONQ's roadmap they say their 2026 quantum system has only 12 logical q , but then in 2027 they aim to make a huge leap from 12 l.q to 800 l.q which looks incredibly optimistic, and also in 2028 to double down them.

On the other hand, Quantinuum's Helios already has 50 l.q and their roadmap is more moderated.

Why the logical qubits are more important than p.q ?

-physical qubits are the actual hardware components of a quantum computer (like super-conducting circuits or trapped ions). They are fragile and prone to errors from environmental noise. Logical qubits are software-defined, error-corrected units. They group many physical qubits together to create a single, highly stable qubit that can run complex algorithms.

Now, something here is looking a little bit strange bc no other quantum company has such a super optimistic roadmap as IONQ does , yet they have only delivered a small logical qubits quantum system.

Why

Effective Friday, June 26th, IonQ was officially upgraded from the Russell 2000 to the Russell 1000 index as their market cap exceeded the Russell 2000 Index framework. They will join the Russell 1000 effective Monday, 29th 2026.

This has some major implications, as any institutions that follow the Russell 2000 have to sell their shares of IonQ, any institutions that follow the Russell 1000 have to buy IonQ shares on Monday.

Finally, this is huge news because the next step after the Russell 1000 is the S&P 500. This is obviously a long-term goal due to profitability requirements.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trump-signs-orders-calling-powerful-quantum-computer-targeting-2028-2026-06-22/

Google, IBM and Infleqtion representatives were at the Oval Office ceremony, but apparently no one from IONQ or Quantinuum ?

What's going on, as I thought IONQ and this administration have very strong ties, when it comes to national security ? They also didn't get a share of those 2 billions.

today quantinuum has surpassed IONQs market cap. For IONQ longs I think hold fast as it’s not as big of a deal when you consider their revenue and float

the current lockup has constrained tradable shares by 90% so what we’re seeing is driven by investors chasing a limited resource.

short percent of float is already at 10% and could hit A MUCH HIGHER number by December as people play the liquidity exit. while Helios is an amazing system it doesn’t hit the mark for it being profitable to use, at 98 qubits its still a science project. ibm has 156 qubits with heron r3 that runs thousands of shots for circuits in minutes versus hours on Helios.
more importantly quantinuum needs to solve integrated photonics for FTQC scaling which monarch and sky water haven’t yet .

in December the lockup expires and they start to join ETFs. if you’re investing in QNT be aware of this. If you’re comparing IONQ market cap be aware of this too because the true valuation will be very volatile until honeywell and other shareholders release the float

Not sure if there if there are employees on this reddit but here we go. Ill keep it short.

I'm a recent grad and recently got a technician job at IonQ.

Pay is more than I'd thought I would ever make, comes with heavy bonus and stock options.

I come from a quantum research background and IonQ definitely does not have a good reputation from the research spaces I have been in. They are overvalued and dont really have tech that works given their evaluation. Example: I work at a nat'l lab rn and the IonQ machines that congress buys for us get scrapped for components once they 1.) dont work or 2.) work and then we realize there is nothing that can actually be done with them.

I know this reddit is full of bullish investors but the numerous scientists I know and work with share similar opinions.

In any case, could be a good opportunity to make some money and wonder how people that work for ionQ like the company.

Thanks reddit.

IONQ vs Infleqtion long-term (3+ years)

I’ve been holding IONQ for a while and I’m trying to figure out how to think about Infleqtion (INFQ) as a potential replacement quantum name.

From what I can see:

• IONQ is clearly further ahead commercially right now. They have real revenue (Q1 was $64.7M, up massively YoY), strong cloud partnerships (AWS, Azure, Google), and higher gate fidelity. The trapped-ion approach seems to be winning on quality in the near term.
• Infleqtion uses neutral atoms, which a lot of people argue has better long-term scaling potential. They also seem to be getting stronger government tailwinds lately (their CEO was at the recent Trump quantum signing event last night, and they received funding in the big May quantum round). They’re much earlier stage though, with very low revenue.

For someone thinking 3–5+ years out, how are people in here thinking about this?

Do you see IONQ staying as the clear leader, or do you think neutral atom players like Infleqtion could overtake them on scaling and government/defense work?

Would love to hear how people who actually follow the tech are weighing the two.