How IonQ Is Growing Its Merchant Supplier Role in Quantum Space

IonQ IONQ is strengthening its role as a merchant supplier to the broader quantum industry. The company has already been serving as a key supplier of precision atomic clocks to a number of quantum computing companies and government contractors, while its quantum networking solutions and sensors are already sold broadly.

A recent example is IonQ’s hardware contract under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum program. The company will help enable a new class of networked quantum computers that combine distinct qubit types — such as trapped ions, neutral atoms and/or superconducting qubits — into an interconnected, high-performance architecture, taking advantage of each modality’s strengths.

Following the close of the $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater in May, IonQ deepened its merchant supplier capabilities and established a unique vertically integrated full-stack quantum platform. With SkyWater’s semiconductor technology supporting multiple quantum processing unit (QPU) modalities, IonQ says it has become the world's largest quantum merchant supplier. The combined company is expected to have the capacity and capital to support U.S. quantum R&D initiatives and also scale quantum manufacturing.

On the August 2026 earnings call, IonQ announced that it has acquired Nexus Photonics, building on its merchant supplier business model. The University of California, Santa Barbara spin-off adds foundational technologies for chip-scale integration of lasers, modulators and optical subsystems, which supports the miniaturization and mass manufacture of quantum systems.

IonQ has started incorporating these solutions into its next-generation atomic clocks and gravimeters. These integrated photonics capabilities also bring the company closer to data center-scale distributed quantum systems. IonQ plans to supply these critical components to the broader quantum ecosystem through the industry's first dedicated quantum photonics foundry offering at SkyWater.

Latest Developments Among IONQ’s Peers

Rigetti Computing RGTI announced a new operating structure to scale deployment of on-premises quantum systems, strengthen end-to-end operational execution and further focus its engineering resources on quantum processor development. The company is establishing a dedicated Systems Delivery organization and creating the role of chief operating officer to lead manufacturing operations, systems delivery, commercial functions and customer-facing engineering. In the second quarter of 2026, Rigetti reported approximately $5.1 million in revenues, up from $1.8 million in the prior-year quarter, driven by on-premises Novera QPU sales.

IBM IBM recently announced that it has joined and cooled down two cryogenic modules into a single environment. The new architecture is designed to scale into the modular, shared and ultra-cold system required to link hundreds of quantum chips into a more powerful quantum computer capable of solving large problems. The deployment is a major advancement on IBM's path to delivering IBM Quantum Starling in 2029, which is expected to be the first-ever fault-tolerant quantum computer and will integrate advances across error correction, processor design, decoding and systems engineering.

The Zacks Rundown for IONQ Stock

Year to date, IonQ shares have dropped 8.1%, significantly lagging the industry’s 105.7% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In terms of valuation, IONQ trades at a forward, 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) of 44.78X compared with the 5.33X industry average. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Estimates for the company’s 2026 and 2027 loss per share have widened over the past three months, as shown below. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains

Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.

While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.

Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.

Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research