Data as of:
LIVE
IONQ
IonQ, Inc. · Quantum Computing
$39.13
-9.76% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation · Technology
$229.55
-3.21% this month
Comparison scoreboard
IBM LEADS 3/5AI Scorei
IONQ ✓52.1
IBM 39.3
1Y Returni
IONQ -41.43%
IBM ✓-13.38%
Fwd P/Ei
IONQ -30.87
IBM ✓17.90
Target Up.i
IONQ ✓+80.47%
IBM +3.96%
Op. Margini
IONQ -408.17%
IBM ✓16.55%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/19/2026
Quick take
IONQ vs IBM Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
IONQ and IBM represent very different quantum computing investment profiles. IonQ is a pure-play pre-profitability quantum hardware company — high risk, high reward if quantum computing achieves commercial utility. IBM has a significant quantum program but is a $60B+ diversified technology company where quantum is a small research investment embedded in a profitable business. IONQ is the quantum pure-play speculative bet; IBM is the stable technology company with quantum as a long-duration embedded option.
IONQ vs IBM — IonQ (the pure-play trapped-ion quantum computing company making quantum accessible through cloud providers as the primary publicly traded quantum pure-play) versus IBM (the $60B+ technology and consulting platform with one of the world's leading superconducting quantum programs embedded as a research investment within a profitable diversified business).
Live analysis · updated 9/19/2026
IBM holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. IBM leads on both 1-year return (-13.38%) and forward P/E quality (17.90x vs -30.87x for IONQ), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, IONQ is growing revenue faster (286.80%), while IBM maintains the higher operating margin (16.55%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for IONQ (+80.47%) than for IBM (+3.96%).
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Normalized 1Y performance
IONQ
IBM
Recent returns
IONQ
IBM
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
IONQ
Price target range
analyst mean$67.68
current price$39.13
+80.5% upside to analyst mean
IBM · 20 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.4/5.0)
13 Buy / 10 Hold / 2 Sell
Price target range
analyst low$170.00
analyst high$300.00
analyst mean$244.91
current price$229.55
+4.0% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
IONQ may suit investors who:
- want maximum quantum computing pure-play exposure — IONQ's entire business is quantum, providing concentrated upside if quantum achieves commercial utility in any timeline
- believe trapped-ion qubit quality (low error rates, high coherence) will prove more commercially valuable than superconducting approaches with higher qubit counts but lower fidelity
- accept high speculative risk in exchange for pure-play quantum upside — IONQ could be worth 10-100x if quantum advantage is demonstrated for commercially valuable problems
- are comfortable with pre-profitability losses, uncertain quantum utility timeline, and the possibility quantum computing remains academically interesting but commercially limited for another decade
IBM may suit investors who:
- want quantum computing exposure within a financially stable $60B+ technology company that isn't existentially dependent on quantum commercialization timelines
- value IBM's hybrid cloud (Red Hat OpenShift) revenue and consulting transformation as the primary near-term earnings drivers — with quantum as a long-duration embedded call option
- prefer IBM's dividend and proven earnings per share vs IonQ's pre-profitability speculative profile — quantum as a bonus, not the core investment thesis
- are comfortable with IBM's technology refresh cycles, consulting margin competition from Accenture and Capgemini, and quantum being a decade-long research investment without near-term revenue contribution
Performance & AI score
| Metric | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 52.1 | 39.3 |
| AI ranki | #415 | #1266 |
| Latest closei | $39.13 | $229.55 |
| 1M returni | -9.76% | -3.21% |
| 6M returni | +25.42% | -8.32% |
| 1Y returni | -41.43% | -13.38% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.86K (-41.4%) started 2025-09-18 | $8.66K (-13.4%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $39.09K (+290.9%) started 2021-09-20 | $24.9K (+149.0%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $36.23K (+262.3%) started 2021-01-04 | $36.29K (+262.9%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $15.19B | $221.96B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 20.92 |
| Forward P/Ei | -30.87 | 17.90 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 3.98 |
| EV/Revenuei | 50.08 | 4.04 |
| Analyst targeti | $67.68 | $244.91 |
| Target upsidei | +80.47% | +3.96% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 286.80% | 1.10% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | -1.80% |
| EPS growthi | N/A | -1.80% |
| FCF margini | -35.61% | +17.44% |
| Operating margini | -408.17% | 16.55% |
| Profit margini | 0.00% | 15.52% |
| ROIC proxyi | -60.48% | 34.46% |
| Return on equityi | -60.48% | 34.46% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 2.87% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 59.77% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 3.30 | 0.70 |
| Debt/equityi | 1.63 | 188.97 |
| Current ratioi | 10.66 | 0.79 |
| Quick ratioi | 9.92 | 0.61 |
Correlation
Over the past year, IONQ and IBM have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.19), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.19
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.16
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.15
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
IONQ max drawdowni67.61%
IBM max drawdowni37.50%
IONQ max wkly dropi29.63%
IBM max wkly dropi30.08%
5Y risk snapshot
IONQ max drawdowni90.00%
IBM max drawdowni37.50%
IONQ max wkly dropi42.22%
IBM max wkly dropi30.08%
10Y risk snapshot
IONQ max drawdowni90.00%
IBM max drawdowni40.59%
IONQ max wkly dropi42.22%
IBM max wkly dropi30.08%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -41.43% | -13.38% |
| CAGRi | -41.45% | -13.39% | |
| Volatilityi | 94.26% | 48.97% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.16 | -0.13 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.24 | -0.17 | |
| Max drawdowni | 67.61% | 37.50% | |
| Current drawdowni | 52.33% | 30.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 41.77% | 15.49% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 44.68% | 19.26% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.37% | 25.21% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.63% | 30.08% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +290.91% | +109.56% |
| CAGRi | +31.39% | +15.97% | |
| Volatilityi | 102.19% | 30.42% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.72 | 0.50 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.17 | 0.68 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.00% | 37.50% | |
| Current drawdowni | 52.33% | 30.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 54.31% | 8.15% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 59.46% | 11.29% | |
| Max daily dropi | 39.00% | 25.21% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.22% | 30.08% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +262.31% | +127.63% |
| CAGRi | +25.32% | +8.58% | |
| Volatilityi | 96.79% | 28.26% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.66 | 0.28 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.07 | 0.38 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.00% | 40.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 52.33% | 30.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 50.75% | 11.63% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 56.50% | 14.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 39.00% | 25.21% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.22% | 30.08% |
Business comparison
| Category | IONQ | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| Company | IonQ, Inc. | International Business Machines Corporation |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Computer Hardware | Information Technology Services |
| Core business | IonQ is a pure-play quantum computing company using trapped-ion technology to build quantum computers. IonQ's trapped-ion approach traps individual ytterbium atoms using electromagnetic fields — creating qubits with high coherence times and low error rates compared to superconducting qubits used by IBM and Google. IonQ makes its quantum computers available through AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. IonQ has $200M+ in revenue bookings but limited near-term actual revenue — it is pre-profitability, burning cash while developing quantum hardware and software. | IBM is a diversified technology and consulting company with one of the world's leading quantum computing research programs. IBM's quantum program (IBM Quantum) uses superconducting qubits with the Eagle (127-qubit), Osprey (433-qubit), and Condor (1,121-qubit) processor roadmap. IBM makes quantum computers available through IBM Quantum Network for research and commercial experimentation. IBM's quantum program is a research investment within a $60B+ revenue company generating income from mainframe, hybrid cloud (Red Hat), and consulting — IBM is not a quantum pure-play. |
| Investor focus | Investors use IONQ as the primary pure-play publicly traded quantum computing investment — a high-risk, high-reward bet on quantum computing achieving commercial utility. | IBM investors focus on the hybrid cloud (Red Hat/OpenShift) revenue trajectory, software mix improvement, consulting transformation, and quantum computing as a long-duration R&D investment embedded within IBM's technology portfolio. |
IONQ strengths
- Trapped-ion qubit quality advantage: IonQ's trapped-ion approach provides higher fidelity qubits with lower error rates than superconducting alternatives at comparable qubit counts — quality matters more than quantity for near-term quantum advantage
- Cloud provider access via AWS, Azure, GCP: IonQ's quantum computers are accessible through all major cloud platforms — enabling commercial customers to use quantum algorithms without owning physical hardware
- Pure-play quantum specialization: IonQ focuses exclusively on quantum computing — not distracted by classical computing divisions, enterprise software, or consulting businesses
IBM strengths
- 1,000+ qubit Condor processor milestone: IBM achieved 1,000+ qubit quantum processor (Condor) on its published roadmap — scale milestone demonstrates IBM's quantum engineering execution capability
- Embedded within profitable $60B+ revenue company: IBM's quantum investment is funded by a large profitable technology and consulting business — no existential cash burn risk unlike pure-play quantum companies
- Open-source Qiskit ecosystem: IBM's Qiskit quantum programming framework is the most widely adopted quantum SDK — creating developer ecosystem lock-in and educational momentum for IBM quantum hardware
Risks to watch — IONQ
- Severe pre-profitability losses: IonQ has limited actual revenue and significant R&D burn — financial sustainability depends on quantum computing achieving commercial utility before cash is exhausted
- Superconducting competition from IBM and Google: IBM's superconducting quantum roadmap has more qubits at this stage — the trapped-ion vs superconducting technology race has no determined winner
- Commercial quantum advantage unproven: no quantum computer has yet demonstrated practical advantage over classical computers for commercially useful problems — the timeline to this 'quantum utility' milestone remains uncertain
Risks to watch — IBM
- IBM's quantum program is a research cost center, not a revenue driver: quantum computing generates minimal current revenue for IBM — it's a long-term R&D investment that doesn't drive near-term stock performance
- Superconducting qubit error rates still limit practical applications: IBM's higher qubit counts come with higher error rates than IonQ's trapped-ion approach — error-corrected quantum computers remain years away even with 1,000+ physical qubits
- IBM's stock is primarily driven by non-quantum factors: hybrid cloud revenue growth, consulting margins, and mainframe refresh cycles dominate IBM's stock performance — quantum is a long-duration call option within the IBM stock
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