IonQ Raises 2026 Outlook After Record $173.8 Million Quarter

The Tip Desk · November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

The quantum platform company booked $173.8 million of third-quarter revenue, up 336% from a year earlier, and lifted full-year guidance to $505 million to $515 million.

IonQ (IONQ), the full-stack quantum platform and foundry, reported third-quarter revenue of $173.8 million, up 336% from a year earlier, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to $505 million to $515 million after remaining performance obligations more than doubled to $1.2 billion.

The result was the sixth consecutive record quarter. Sequential sales rose from $80.1 million in the second quarter, when year-over-year growth was 287%. Two quarters earlier, revenue was $64.7 million.

Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi said the quarter reflected increasing demand for the company’s quantum technologies and the benefits of vertically integrated manufacturing through SkyWater.

IonQ Platform segment revenue was $90.3 million, up 127% year-over-year, on global Tempo quantum computer deployments. SkyWater Foundry Services contributed $83.5 million; non-IonQ quantum customer revenue at SkyWater was up more than 30% year-over-year as SkyWater Quantum Solutions launched.

COO and CFO Inder Singh said major drivers included global Tempo deployments, deliveries of quantum sensing and space-based solutions, and SkyWater’s strong quarter. He said quantum computing represented approximately two-thirds of new contract dollars signed by the IonQ Platform segment, driven by Superion 256 demand.

The company raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $505 million to $515 million from $280 million to $290 million after the second quarter. It expects 110% year-over-year growth in quantum computing revenue for the full year.

GAAP net income attributable to IonQ was $564.0 million, or $1.42 a share, reflecting a non-cash mark-to-market gain on warrants. A year earlier the company reported a $1.05 billion loss and GAAP EPS of $(3.58). Adjusted EBITDA loss widened to ($133.6) million from ($48.9) million a year earlier. Adjusted EPS was ($0.29).

Loss from operations was ($433.1) million versus ($168.8) million a year earlier. Cost of revenue excluding depreciation and amortization was $135.8 million. Research and development was $141.7 million, sales and marketing $48.5 million, general and administrative $153.3 million, and depreciation and amortization $127.6 million.

Cash, cash equivalents and investments were $1.7 billion as of September 30, 2026, down from $3.0 billion as of June 30. Pro forma for a $2.0 billion equity offering that closed October 16, 2026, the company said it had $3.7 billion.

IonQ said it was the only trapped-ion company to advance to Stage C of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, with potential program value of up to $300 million. NVIDIA will deploy a Superion 256 as the first on-premise quantum computer at its Accelerated Quantum Research Center.

The company completed an all-stock acquisition of Elisity, a Zero Trust security firm, issuing $1.15 billion of common stock at closing, with up to an additional $150 million in milestone consideration through January 2028. The deal is intended to add Zero Trust to IonQ’s post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution offerings.

Third-quarter commercial highlights included a $33 million multi-product contract with SDT for a Superion 256 and quantum memory platform, a $28 million DARPA It’s About Time contract for 25 optical atomic clocks with a $30 million option for 100 additional units, and a $25 million Florida International University Superion 256 deployment. SkyWater extended a multi-year collaboration with D-Wave and won a multi-year foundry contract with new quantum customer Qolab for the newly launched SC250 superconducting platform.