IONQ vs RGTI: IonQ vs Rigetti Quantum Computing Stock Comparison 2026: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
IonQ and Rigetti are both pre-commercial quantum computing companies offering cloud-based quantum computing access, but using different qubit technologies. IonQ uses trapped-ion qubits with high gate fidelity; Rigetti uses superconducting qubits similar to IBM and Google. Both are pre-revenue-at-scale and highly speculative. IonQ is the larger company by market cap and revenue; both face the same existential risk from IBM and Google's massive quantum R&D investments.
IONQ vs RGTI is a comparison of two early-stage quantum computing companies with different qubit technologies — both are highly speculative with years-long timelines to commercial quantum advantage, and both face competition from IBM and Google with vastly larger R&D resources. This is a venture-capital-style bet on quantum computing commercialization.
IONQ holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. IONQ leads on both 1-year return (-48.65%) and forward P/E quality (-30.87x vs -72.18x for RGTI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. IONQ leads on both revenue growth (286.80%) and operating margin (-408.17%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for RGTI (+93.76%) than for IONQ (+80.47%).
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.
- prefer trapped-ion quantum technology's higher gate fidelity advantage over superconducting qubit competitors
- value IonQ's multi-cloud distribution (AWS, Azure, GCP) providing the broadest enterprise access to its quantum systems
- want the larger, better-capitalized quantum computing pure-play with DoD contracts validating technology relevance
- are comfortable with years-long timelines to commercial quantum advantage and ongoing losses through development phase
- prefer superconducting qubit technology aligned with IBM's and Google's dominant quantum computing architectures
- value Rigetti's Novera on-premises QPU as a differentiated product for defense and research customers needing physical quantum hardware
- want a smaller, higher-risk quantum computing bet with more speculative upside if Rigetti's roadmap delivers competitive systems
- are comfortable with Rigetti competing against much better-funded IBM and Google superconducting programs with limited capital advantage
| Metric | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 45.0 | 31.8 |
| AI ranki | #769 | #2132 |
| Latest closei | $29.99 | $11.09 |
| 1M returni | -31.48% | -27.31% |
| 3M returni | -28.12% | -36.48% |
| 6M returni | -37.52% | -39.33% |
| 1Y returni | -48.65% | -71.66% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.14K (-48.6%) started 2025-11-03 | $2.83K (-71.7%) started 2025-11-03 |
| 5Y ago | $18.25K (+82.5%) started 2021-11-04 | $10.73K (+7.3%) started 2021-11-04 |
| 10Y ago | $27.77K (+177.7%) started 2021-01-04 | $11.2K (+12.0%) started 2021-04-22 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $15.19B | $4.96B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | -30.87 | -72.18 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 50.08 | 345.78 |
| Analyst targeti | $67.68 | $28.81 |
| Target upsidei | +80.47% | +93.76% |
| Metric | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 286.80% | 185.30% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | -35.61% | +198.11% |
| Operating margini | -408.17% | -546.17% |
| Profit margini | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | -60.48% | -43.77% |
| Return on equityi | -60.48% | -43.77% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | N/A |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 3.30 | 2.02 |
| Debt/equityi | 1.63 | 1.43 |
| Current ratioi | 10.66 | 3.94 |
| Quick ratioi | 9.92 | 3.78 |
Over the past year, IONQ and RGTI have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.87), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -48.65% | -71.66% |
| CAGRi | -48.67% | -71.69% | |
| Volatilityi | 91.16% | 94.24% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.34 | -0.93 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.51 | -1.39 | |
| Max drawdowni | 60.91% | 72.72% | |
| Current drawdowni | 58.39% | 71.66% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 32.44% | 51.51% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 36.18% | 53.11% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.37% | 14.40% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.63% | 26.75% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +82.53% | +7.31% |
| CAGRi | +12.80% | +1.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 101.18% | 130.86% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.57 | 0.60 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.92 | 1.02 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.00% | 96.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 63.47% | 80.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 55.41% | 66.14% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 60.07% | 71.53% | |
| Max daily dropi | 39.00% | 45.41% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.22% | 68.19% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +177.69% | +11.97% |
| CAGRi | +19.15% | +2.06% | |
| Volatilityi | 96.34% | 124.28% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.61 | 0.57 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.97 | 0.98 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.00% | 96.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 63.47% | 80.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 50.84% | 59.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 56.48% | 67.92% | |
| Max daily dropi | 39.00% | 45.41% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.22% | 68.19% |
| Category | IONQ | RGTI |
|---|---|---|
| Company | IonQ, Inc. | Rigetti Computing, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Computer Hardware | Computer Hardware |
| Core business | IonQ develops trapped-ion quantum computers, a technology approach that uses individual ionized atoms as qubits, achieving among the highest fidelity (accuracy) of any commercial quantum system. IonQ provides cloud-based access to its quantum computers through AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, and is developing its own quantum networking technology. IonQ measures quantum computing performance using Algorithmic Qubit (AQ), its proprietary metric for useful qubit count accounting for both quantity and fidelity. | Rigetti Computing develops superconducting quantum processors and provides cloud quantum computing access through its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform. Unlike IonQ's trapped-ion approach, Rigetti uses superconducting circuits similar to IBM and Google. Rigetti has been building out its Novera quantum processing unit (QPU) for on-premises deployment in addition to cloud access, targeting defense and research labs that want physical quantum systems. |
| Investor focus | Investors track AQ performance milestones, cloud revenue from quantum computing access, enterprise customer engagement (proof-of-concept to commercial deployments), and the timeline to fault-tolerant quantum computing. | Investors track qubit count improvements and error rate reductions, Novera QPU commercial sales, government and defense quantum computing contract wins, and the path to commercial revenue at scale. |
- Trapped-ion technology achieves higher gate fidelity than superconducting qubit competitors — better accuracy per operation even with fewer physical qubits
- Multi-cloud availability (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) maximizes enterprise access without requiring proprietary hardware installations
- US government contracts (DoD, Air Force) validate IonQ's technology for national security-relevant quantum computing applications
- Superconducting qubit technology has the largest ecosystem of competing developers (IBM, Google) providing some degree of developer tooling commonality
- Novera QPU on-premises product opens an enterprise market segment requiring physical quantum systems for security or latency reasons
- Government and defense contracts provide stable near-term revenue while the technology matures toward commercial quantum advantage
- Quantum computing is pre-commercial for most enterprise use cases — revenue is primarily from research and proof-of-concept work, not production deployments
- IBM and Google are developing superconducting qubit systems at very large scale (100–1000+ qubit systems) with massive R&D investment
- Path to profitable commercial quantum computing requires fault-tolerant systems that are years away from realization
- Rigetti's superconducting technology competes directly with IBM's massive Quantum System Two and Google's Willow chip — both far better resourced
- Smaller scale and funding than IBM or Google limits Rigetti's hardware roadmap execution speed
- Not profitable with significant ongoing losses; capital requirements for quantum hardware development are substantial and ongoing
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