IonQ Revenue Growth Decelerates as Losses Widen on Warrant Charges
IonQ posted second-quarter revenue of $80.1 million, up 287% from a year earlier but growing at a slower rate than the 755% pace it logged just one quarter earlier.
IonQ (IONQ) reported second-quarter revenue of $80.1 million, up 287% from a year earlier. The growth rate marked a sharp deceleration from the 755% year-over-year expansion IonQ posted in the first quarter of 2026, even as the dollar figure rose sequentially from $64.7 million in the first quarter and $61.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The slowdown extended beyond the headline growth rate. IonQ beat its own revenue guidance midpoint by 55% in the fourth quarter of 2025, by 30% in the first quarter of 2026, and by 20% in the second quarter, a narrowing margin that suggests the company's forecasts are catching up to its actual trajectory. Remaining performance obligations told a similar story: RPO growth ran at 554% year-over-year as of the first quarter before slowing to 297% by the anchor release, even as the backlog itself kept expanding.
Despite the deceleration, IonQ raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $280 million to $290 million, up from the $260 million to $270 million range set after the first quarter and well above the roughly $235 million initial guide given at the fourth-quarter release. The company's mix of business also shifted: commercial revenue held at roughly 60% of the total, matching the first quarter, but international revenue jumped to about 50% of the total from roughly 35% in the first quarter. Multi-product revenue, a metric IonQ has used to show customer breadth, fell to about 25% of the total from over one-third in the prior quarter.
The bottom line swung sharply negative. IonQ posted a net loss attributable to the company of $1,867.7 million, or $5.08 a share, driven by a $1,649.1 million non-cash loss tied to changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities. That compared with a fourth-quarter 2025 GAAP net income of $753.7 million, or $2.13 a share, which itself had been inflated by favorable warrant fair-value swings in the opposite direction. Adjusted EBITDA loss widened to $120.3 million from $67.4 million in the fourth quarter, though $24.7 million of that reflected research spending tied to the newly closed SkyWater Technology deal; stripping out SkyWater, the adjusted EBITDA loss would have been $95.6 million.
Operating expenses climbed across the board from a year earlier. Research and development spending rose to $160.6 million from $103.4 million, general and administrative costs rose to $117.6 million from $48.1 million, and depreciation and amortization rose to $46.1 million from $10.6 million. Accounts receivable grew to $105.9 million at June 30 from $66.5 million at the end of 2025, outpacing the rate of revenue growth over the same period.
IonQ's cash position thinned as the acquisition spree accelerated. Cash, cash equivalents and investments fell to $3.0 billion at quarter-end from $3.3 billion at the end of 2025, and the figure would drop further to $2.0 billion on a pro forma basis once the SkyWater cash outlay is accounted for. The SkyWater acquisition closed July 31, after the quarter ended, following the completed acquisition of Nexus Photonics during the quarter itself, marking the first release in which both deals appear as closed transactions rather than pending agreements. Full-year guidance explicitly excludes any contribution from SkyWater.
The disclosure language around dealmaking has shifted accordingly. Where the fourth-quarter 2025 release and the filings before it emphasized signed or pending transactions, including the SkyWater agreement announced January 26 and the Skyloom acquisition completed January 28, the anchor release describes SkyWater and Nexus in integration terms, reflecting IonQ's transition from announcing deals to absorbing them. Goodwill rose to $2,186.0 million at June 30 from $1,963.6 million at the end of 2025, and intangible assets increased to $778.9 million from $767.4 million, both reflecting the Nexus Photonics acquisition; SkyWater has not yet been consolidated onto the balance sheet.