The stock is up a whopping 652% over the past year.
If AI stocks are the present, then quantum computing stocks just might be the next big technology revolution.
But right now, quantum computing stocks are more speculative than anything else — light on real earnings and heavy on wild volatile price swings.
But one of the leaders in the space right now, made some waves on Friday as its stock price rose about 18% to over $55 per share.
The Maryland-based company announced that it received regulatory approval of the UK Investment Security Unit to acquire Oxford Ionics.
It was the final regulatory hurdle and now the company is poised to close on the deal to buy the U.K.-based firm. The transaction is valued at $1.075 billion, consisting of $1.065 billion in shares of IonQ stock and approximately $10 million in cash.
Acquisition of Oxford Ionics
IonQ is a leader in developing high performance systems based on trapped ion technology to conduct complex quantum computing applications.
Oxford Ionics holds the current world records for fidelity, which measures the accuracy of quantum operations. It also deploys groundbreaking ion-trap technology manufactured on standard semiconductor chips.
Investors don’t need to fully understand quantum computing to grasp the relevance of this deal. But they should know that the technologies are complementary, and combined, they should deliver quantum computers with more power, scale, and problem-solving capabilities.
“IonQ’s vision has always been to drive real-world impact in every era and year of quantum computing’s growth. Today’s announcement of our intention to acquire Oxford Ionics accelerates our mission to full fault-tolerant quantum computers with 2 million physical qubits and 80,000 logical qubits by 2030,” Niccolo de Masi, CEO of IonQ, said. “We believe the advantages of our combined technologies will set a new standard within quantum computing and deliver superior value for our customers through market-leading enterprise applications.”
IonQ Stock Is Up 652% in the Past Year
IonQ stock rose 18% on Friday and it is currently up 33% year-to-date. Over the past 12 months, IonQ stock has returned a ridiculous 652% — rising from about $8 per share to roughly $55 per share.
Oxford Ionics is just the latest in a string of acquisitions IonQ has made over the past several months.
Investors should understand that this young company is in growth mode, building up its capabilities and operations for when quantum computing becomes more commercially viable. That could be several years away. Right now, it has little revenue and is operating at a net loss. In the latest quarter it had a $177 million net loss.
Investors who want to take a chance on it should know that it is fairly speculative at this point, with the potential for high upside. But any positions should probably be kept relatively small within a diversified portfolio.