Stock Market Today, Feb. 26: IonQ Surges After Revenue and 2026 Guidance Exceed Expectations
Today, Feb. 26, 2026, investors weigh explosive revenue growth, bold 2026 targets, and a landmark European quantum network deal.
Today’s Change
(21.20%) $7.12
Current Price
$40.71
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$12B
Day’s Range
$38.75 – $41.89
52wk Range
$17.88 – $84.64
Volume
3.3M
Avg Vol
19M
Gross Margin
-747.41%
IonQ (IONQ +21.20%), which develops trapped-ion quantum computers and related software, closed Thursday at $40.88, up 21.70%. The stock moved higher after Q4 results and 2026 revenue guidance topped expectations. A major European quantum network deployment was also announced, and investors are watching how sustained demand and backlog growth support its long-term quantum roadmap.
Trading volume reached 66.4 million shares, coming in about 234% above compared with its three-month average of 19.9 million shares. IonQ IPO’d in 2021 and has grown 279% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The broader markets pulled back Thursday, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.54%) slipping 0.53% to 6,909 and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.18%) falling 1.18% to 22,878. Among quantum computing peers, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS +2.27%) closed at $20.14 (up 2.49%) and Quantum Computing (QUBT +4.15%) finished at $9.04 (up 4.15%), showing more modest gains than IonQ.
What this means for investors
IonQ tripled revenue to $130 million in 2025. The company expects that growth to continue, guiding investors to expect about $235 million in 2026 revenue, helping IonQ shares to soar.
Valuation remains a question for investors and analysts, however. A market cap of $14.5 billion implies a sharp increase in sales and reaching profitability are already also built into the stock price.
The company is working toward that end with a deployment of large-scale, operational quantum networks in several European countries in the quarter. It also announced plans to acquire SkyWater Technology, a leading quantum chip foundry to help build its platform.
Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends IonQ and SkyWater Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
