IonQ (IONQ, Financials) shot up 27% Thursday after CEO Peter Chapman made a bold claim: he sees IonQ becoming “the Nvidia player” of quantum computing. That comparison to one of tech’s biggest winners grabbed attention fast—and the market responded.
Trading volume spiked to 27.18 million shares, blowing past the usual 16.6 million. Investors seemed to buy into Chapman’s confidence—and his jab at rivals, saying others “have always copied and followed us.” That swagger helped push IonQ’s market cap to $11.26 billion, well ahead of D-Wave Quantum (QBTS, Financials), which closed at $5.96 billion. D-Wave also got a boost, rising more than 20%—likely just from riding IonQ’s coattails.
The rally follows a fresh endorsement from Benchmark, which stuck to its Buy rating and $40 price target last week. For a space as speculative as quantum computing, that kind of belief—backed by analysts and investors—can carry a stock pretty far.
Now the question is whether IonQ can live up to the Nvidia talk—or if this was just a well-timed quote in a hot market.
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