By Mackenzie Tatananni

IonQ stock rose in after-hours trading Wednesday after the quantum computing pure play posted quarterly results and asserted it was at "both a strategic and financial inflection point."

The company recognized revenue of $61.9 million for the fourth quarter, blowing past analysts' calls for $40.4 million. The figure was up from $39.9 million in the prior quarter and sharply higher than the $11.7 million IonQ posted in the same period last year.

At the same time, the company's losses continued to widen. IonQ posted an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, loss of $67.4 million, wider than the $32.8 million loss recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the $48.9 million loss it logged in the third quarter.

Around this time last year, IonQ announced the appointment of Niccolo de Masi as CEO. In a statement Wednesday, de Masi touted 2025 as "a year of tremendous accomplishments." He noted that the company had exceeded the midpoint of its revenue guidance by 55% in the quarter.

The company is forecasting $235 million in revenue for 2026, representing the midpoint of its current guidance range. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for $191 million.

Shares spiked 7.6% to $36.19 in after-hours trading following the report.

On Monday, IonQ announced that it had been awarded a contract under the Missile Defense Agency, an arm of the Defense Department, with a ceiling of $151 billion.

The stock has fallen 25% this year through Wednesday's close, driven lower by the announcement of an acquisition at the end of January and, more recently, a shortseller report accusing the company of misstating its revenue and buying up smaller companies to spur growth.

IonQ told Barron's, which was the first to report on the allegations, that the firm had made "false, misleading, and unsubstantiated claims." The company didn't provide a rebuttal to what it called "substantial misrepresentations" of its government relationships, business strategy, and financial sustainability.

The company is under no obligation to respond to short reports, but the allegations clearly spooked investors. Since the report was made public on Feb. 4, shares have fallen more than 12% through Wednesday's close.

In an industry like quantum computing, where investors have very little to go off of -- none of the pure play companies are profitable, and their technology has yet to be broadly commercialized -- allegations like these can have a big impact on sentiment.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2026 16:31 ET (21:31 GMT)

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