What Should IonQ Stock Holders Take From Its Third-Quarter Report?
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IonQ (IONQ) stock jumped 23.4% on November 6, 2026, the session after the company reported its fiscal Q3 2026 results. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% that same day. IonQ posted what management called record revenue and raised the company’s sales forecast for the year, but the quarter also included two months of results from SkyWater, the chip foundry IonQ bought at the end of July. So how fast did IonQ grow without SkyWater?
Without SkyWater, IonQ’s Sales Still More Than Doubled
Management said IonQ’s quantum platform business, reported apart from SkyWater, brought in $90.3 million in fiscal Q3 2026. That is up 127% from a year earlier. The company as a whole reported $173.8 million, up 336%, a rate that includes a foundry IonQ did not own a year earlier.
Turning to the stock, its jump was a little ahead of the move in Rigetti Computing, one of IonQ’s peers, which rose 19.3% in the same session. The jump also came off IonQ’s lowest close of the past year, $26.43 on November 5. Even with the jump, IonQ stock was down 38.5% over the year to November 9, while the S&P 500 returned 13.7%.
IonQ Lifted Revenue Forecasts And Widened Its Operating Loss
Management raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $505 million to $515 million, from the $450 million to $460 million it gave at its Investor Day in September. In its August release, the forecast had been $285 million. The new forecast covers the whole company, so it includes SkyWater. Management now expects revenue from quantum computing, which it called the fastest-growing product line in the platform business, to rise more than 110% in 2026, up from the 100% it gave on its fiscal Q2 2026 call.
IonQ’s operating loss also grew, to $433 million in fiscal Q3 2026 from $169 million a year earlier, though it was smaller as a share of revenue. Its gross margin fell to 21.9% from 46.7% over the same year. The loss and margin figures cover the whole company, including two months of SkyWater. IonQ did report a $564 million net profit, but management said that included an $896 million non-cash gain on the value of its warrants.
Management put adjusted EBITDA, the company’s own profit measure, at negative $133.6 million for the quarter, reflecting spending on integration work. It expects that figure to improve in fiscal Q4 2026.
What IonQ Said About Demand For 2027
Management said IonQ has sold out all of its Superion 256 capacity for 2027 after signing contracts for those systems around the globe. It said the platform business’s growth came from quantum computing, led by deployments of its Tempo quantum computers, and from its sensing and space-based products. The platform business also signed about $290 million of new contracts in the quarter.
Management provided no count of the systems it will deliver in 2027. When an analyst asked about that count on the November 5 call, management said it had not given any numbers.
The revenue growth of IonQ’s platform business, reported apart from SkyWater, is the figure to watch when the company reports fiscal Q4 2026, expected in February 2027.
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