IonQ (IONQ) Surges 20.5%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?
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IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) shares soared 20.5% in the last trading session to close at $9.71. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 10.1% gain over the past four weeks.
The uptrend in share price was primarily attributable to a $54.5 million contract from the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). This is reportedly the largest quantum contract secured by IonQ in 2024 as it remains confident of meeting or exceeding its bookings guidance of $75-95 million for the year.
This AFRL contract builds upon the momentum IonQ has driven in quantum networking over the last year. The company has nearly doubled its revenue every year since going public in 2021 and expects to replicate this feat in 2024 as well.
This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.23 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -4.6%. Revenues are expected to be $11.05 million, up 80% from the year-ago quarter.
While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For IonQ, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on IONQ going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
IonQ is part of the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry. ZoomInfo (ZI), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 2% higher at $10.50. ZI has returned 5.8% in the past month.
ZoomInfo's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.22. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -15.4%. ZoomInfo currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
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IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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