IonQ Revenue Jumps 336% to $173.8 Million, Lifting 2026 Forecast

Key Facts

IonQ said on November 5 that revenue reached $173.8 million in the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 336% year over year, and raised its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $505–515 million. The company said quarterly revenue exceeded the average estimate by 23%, while estimates cited by Investing.com showed revenue topped analysts’ forecast of $141.71 million. Chief Executive Niccolo de Masi described the quarter as “a sixth consecutive quarter of record results and the strongest quarter in the company’s history.” The performance puts sales growth and the higher annual guidance at the forefront of the results announcement, as the company continues to record a substantial adjusted operating loss. IonQ’s reported demand indicators center on new contracts and remaining performance obligations, alongside quantum computing and SkyWater services revenue.

The new forecast range was above IonQ’s previous estimate, announced in September, of between $450 million and $460 million in 2026 revenue. The company raised both the low and high ends of its annual estimates and said quantum computing revenue is expected to grow 110% during the fiscal year. The midpoint of the new range was $510 million, compared with analysts’ consensus of $455.11 million, according to Investing.com. IonQ said quarterly revenue exceeded the average estimate by 23%, recording $173.8 million versus $39.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025. The contrast between reported results and published estimates reflects the scale of the annual increase announced by the company, while the quarter still included adjusted losses.

Net income attributable to IonQ was about $564 million, and earnings per share under generally accepted accounting principles were $1.42 in the third quarter. The company attributed the result to a non-cash impact from the revaluation of warrants, so net income alone does not reflect operating profitability during the period. The company, by contrast, recorded an adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $133.6 million and an adjusted loss per share of $0.29. These figures present a mixed picture of the quarter: sharp revenue growth and positive accounting net income alongside a loss on adjusted measures. IonQ said its platform revenue was $90.3 million, up 127% year over year, while SkyWater’s foundry services business generated $83.5 million in revenue.

IonQ said revenue growth was driven in part by the deployment of its Tempo quantum computers worldwide, delivery of quantum sensing and space solutions, and the completion of its acquisition of SkyWater, which also had a strong quarter. It added that remaining performance obligations more than doubled to $1.2 billion. Quantum computing accounted for about two-thirds of the value of new contracts signed by the IonQ platform during the quarter, which the company attributed to demand for the Superion 256 system. Among the contracts it announced was a $33 million agreement with SDT to deploy Superion 256 and a quantum memory platform. It also announced a $25 million contract with Florida International University to deploy Superion 256.

On the financing side, cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $1.7 billion on September 30. That figure rose to $3.7 billion on a pro forma basis after including a $2 billion stock offering that closed on October 16. The company also announced that it was the only trapped-ion technology operator to advance to Phase C of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s quantum benchmarking initiative. The program’s potential value is up to $300 million, according to IonQ’s statement. These contracts and financial resources provide context for the higher forecast, while the adjusted earnings loss recorded in the quarter remains part of the results picture.

IonQ shares did not finish the November 5 session higher: they closed at $26.43, down 10.53% from the previous close, after trading between $24.91 and $29.12 during the session. But the stock rose 3% in after-hours trading on Thursday following the results and new forecast. In premarket trading on November 6, it was up 7.7%, according to a report published that morning. The company had scheduled its conference call to discuss results and provide a business update for November 5 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Its next appearance was listed at Cantor’s Digital Finance, FinTech, AI and Energy Infrastructure Conference in Miami on November 11.