Why IonQ Stock Is Skyrocketing Today

Shares of IonQ (IONQ 12.67%) are surging on Monday. The company’s stock had gained 14.9% as of 10:40 a.m. ET but was up as much as 17.6% earlier in the day. The move up comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively.

The quantum computing company’s stock got a boost after its executive chairman, Peter Chapman, made the rounds late last week, speaking to several financial media outlets.

Quantum could be nearer than you think

Chapman appeared on Bloomberg Technology to address concerns that quantum computing is more than a decade away from viability in the market. While the advanced computing technology is still in development, Chapman told host Ed Ludlow that he believes it is just years away from disrupting modern computing, rather than a decade or more.

Speaking to another outlet, Chapman made clear the company wants its work to speak for itself, saying, “We shouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to convince people quantum is coming, instead just focus on that ChatGPT moment for quantum,” referring to the public release of ChatGPT-3 that launched artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream and proved the technology to the public.

There’s still a high level of risk involved

IonQ and other quantum computing companies are developing what could be a truly revolutionary technology. That being said, it is still early days and despite Chapman’s rosy outlook, it may take much longer for quantum to mature to the point that it can be used widely in commercial applications. I would avoid IonQ for now unless you have a particularly high risk tolerance and are comfortable with the technology taking many years to come into its own, as well as the possibility that it may fail to do so entirely.