IONQ Inc. stock rose 7% 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% to $33.6 in after-hours trading following the report. Peers D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing were up 2.5% and 0.1%, respectively.
Evidently, the results were a positive read-through for the industry. The stock reaction was just what IonQ needed after coming under increased scrutiny earlier this month.
Shares have 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.
Government relationships are essential for IonQ. As is the case with peers like Rigetti, federal contracts are major contributors to revenue. Just 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 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 -- 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.
At the same time, the company has attracted its fair share of admirers, both from a retail investor standpoint and on the Street. Twelve of the 15 firms tracked by FactSet rate the stock at Buy, while the remaining three rate it at Hold.
In an interview with Barron's in May 2025, de Masi coined the term " Nvidia of quantum computing" to describe IonQ's aspirations to grow into the largest and most comprehensive player in the industry, and the nickname stuck.
It doesn't seem the company is abandoning these goals any time soon. IonQ has been on an acquisition spree for the past year as it aims to absorb new technologies into its portfolio, from satellite imagery to atomic clocks.
Perhaps the most consequential purchase was that of British start-up Oxford Ionics, whose proprietary technology allowed IonQ to claim a record in quantum performance.
The company's loss from operations swelled to nearly $229 million in the fourth quarter from $77.5 million last year. Operating costs and expenses rose to just over $290 million from $89.2 million in 2024. In all, IonQ finished the quarter with a net loss of $753 million, wider than a $202 million loss in the year-ago period.