IonQ Falls 8% as Quantum Computing Stocks Slide; Rigetti Drops 6%, D-Wave Declines 4%

Quantum computing stocks are giving back ground, and the group’s largest name is leading the retreat. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ | IONQ Price Prediction) stock is at $28.39, down 8% in early trading. The slide cuts a strong bounce over the past week, and IonQ stock remains down 34% year to date (YTD).

Speculative tech has been under pressure as fallout around NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) weighs on AI-adjacent stocks. IonQ’s high-beta profile leaves it exposed to that shift in risk appetite.

IonQ Stock Retreats After a Record Quarter

IonQ reported its Q3 2026 results on November 5, and the top line beat expectations. The company’s revenue reached $173.83 million against a $141.20 million consensus estimate, up 336% year over year (YoY), as the newly acquired SkyWater foundry business was consolidated. Management also raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $505 million to $515 million.

Headline profit at IonQ got a one-time lift. A non-cash warrant liability gain of $896.16 million lifted the company’s net income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to $563.96 million. On an adjusted basis, which excludes that gain, IonQ lost $0.29 per share, and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss extended to $133.61 million from $48.91 million.

The quarterly report is already absorbed. The best-supported explanation for the drop is profit taking after IonQ’s bounce, reinforced by a sector-wide pullback in high-beta speculative tech (fencing off a slice of the portfolio for names like this is the whole subject of our free speculation playbook). That pattern fits a move hitting every major quantum name at once.

What the Peer Group Says About IonQ

D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ:QBTS) stock is at $9.43, down 4%. Measured YTD, D-Wave stock is down 63%, a far deeper slide than IonQ has suffered. Results released on November 10 showed D-Wave’s revenue rising 20.7% to $4.51 million, while its gross margin fell to 52.9% from 71.4% on a shift toward lower-margin professional services.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) stock is at $9.68, down 6%. Shares of Rigetti are down 54% YTD. On November 10, Rigetti reported Q3 revenue of $1.41 million, down 27.5% and short of the $3.52 million consensus, while holding its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of approximately $20 million on expected Q4 2026 customer acceptance of a C-DAC system.

Both smaller names are falling less than IonQ in percentage terms, a detail that cuts against the idea that scale protects IonQ in a selloff. IonQ’s recent rebound left gains available to lock in, which may help explain the gap. Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) rounds out the group; QUBT stock is down 4% to $5.57.

How IonQ’s Business Differs From D-Wave and Rigetti

Of the three featured names, IonQ runs the broadest model. The company sells trapped-ion quantum computers, offers cloud access through major providers, and adds networking, sensing and post-quantum cybersecurity products. Through SkyWater, IonQ also manufactures for third parties, including D-Wave, so the company collects foundry revenue from a rival it competes with for computing customers.

D-Wave takes a dual-platform approach, selling access to annealing systems it describes as production-ready while building gate-model machines through its Quantum Circuits acquisition. Most of the company’s revenue comes from cloud access, professional services and system sales.

Rigetti is the purest hardware play of the three. It builds superconducting qubit chips in its own fabrication facility and sells on-premises systems to national labs and quantum computing centers. Government research contracts round out the company’s revenue. Quantum Computing Inc. stands apart with photonics technology designed to run at room temperature.

What Comes Next for IonQ and the Quantum Group

IonQ’s next test is whether the recent weekly bounce holds as the sector pulls back, and with Q3 reports now behind IonQ, D-Wave and Rigetti, the group heads into a stretch where sentiment and sector news may drive trading. Traders can watch for any shift in appetite for AI-linked tech, since the quantum names are moving as a block.

The bulls can highlight IonQ’s raised guidance, a pro forma cash position of $3.7 billion and NVIDIA’s plan to deploy a Superion 256 system at its Accelerated Quantum Research Center. Extended adjusted losses at IonQ, dilution from equity offerings and stock-based deals, and integration risk from recent acquisitions give the bears their case.

Rigetti’s outlook depends on a single system acceptance, while D-Wave offers no quantitative guidance. A conservative investment approach may be warranted until the pullback in speculative tech resolves.

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