IonQ Climbs 9% on Quantum Optimization Work With NVIDIA; D-Wave Rises 8%, Rigetti Gains 7% - Yahoo Finance

IonQ Climbs 9% on Quantum Optimization Work With NVIDIA; D-Wave Rises 8%, Rigetti Gains 7% David Moadel Thu, September 17, 2026 at 11:50 AM EDT 5 min read IONQ -3.00% NVDA +1.34% QQQ +0.63% QTUM +0.71% RGTI -1.44% Quick Read IonQ surged 9% on research showing quantum circuit generation time stays constant as problem sizes scale, pulling D-Wave up 8% on sympathy. QTUM's 2% gain versus IonQ's 9% move reveals traders are bidding on IonQ's story, not repricing quantum computing broadly. IonQ's research disclosure still needs to produce paying customers; today's bounce still leaves the stock down over the past month. Just released. Our analysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and IonQ didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat IONQ. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut. Quantum computing stocks are trading like a thematic basket this morning, not like an industry being repriced. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) is at the center of the move, with a research disclosure about generating quantum optimization circuits using a generative machine learning method. The pure-play peers are running with it while the sector's diversified basket barely stirs. Funtap / Shutterstock.com The Defiance Quantum ETF (NASDAQ:QTUM) is up 2% to $146.60, a modest move for a fund that mixes large diversified technology holdings with the pure plays. IonQ stock is up 9% to $40.05 in Thursday morning trading, a bounce that sits inside a losing month rather than a clean breakout. For a broader picture of tech stocks, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) up 1.69% to $716.60. D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) stock is up 8% to $17.52 on sympathy with IonQ, while Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) stock is up 7% to $15.87 on the same thematic read. Additionally, Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) stock is up 5% to $8.43 with no announcement of its own, tagging along with IonQ. IONQ Price Target — 24/7 Wall St. Why IonQ Is Moving Free Report, Just Released Why Didn't IONQ Make The Top 10 List? 24/7 Wall St has helped investors make money for over two decades, and our top analysts just finished ranking the definitive Top 10 Stocks To Buy Now. Not the ten biggest companies. Not the ten everyone is arguing about. The ten best stocks to buy right now. And IONQ didn't make the cut! The report is free, and you can see why we think each stock is a top investment today.

Enter Your Email and See the Ten → IonQ reported progress on generating quantum optimization circuits using a generative machine learning method, developed with NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. The approach held generation time roughly constant as the tested problem sizes grew, which is the part that matters for IonQ.

Story Continues Setting up an optimization problem for a quantum machine has been one of the costs limiting the machine's usefulness. A quantum computer that needs an expensive classical setup step isn't obviously cheaper for IonQ's customers than a classical computer solving the whole problem end to end. NVIDIA is the enabling partner rather than a mover today, and the collaboration lends validation to the hybrid quantum-classical thesis IonQ has been building on its own roadmap. That framing lets a research disclosure act like a share-price catalyst for IonQ stock.

Quantum Peers Move in Sympathy D-Wave, Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc. announced nothing of their own this morning, so the moves in those three are correlated sympathy with IonQ rather than judgments on any of those businesses. That's what a thematic bid looks like: coordinated moves in the smallest, most speculative names in a category on one company's disclosure. IonQ carries the actual research result, so its lift at least has a specific basis. The peer moves suggest traders are treating the four pure plays as one expression of quantum computing rather than four distinct businesses, and that reading gets tested every time IonQ delivers news the peers can't match. QTUM Is the Tell for IonQ The gap between IonQ's 9% gain and the Defiance Quantum ETF's 2% move is the useful signal. That fund holds large diversified technology companies alongside the pure plays, so a move concentrated in the four small names lifts it only slightly. The tepid basket move tells investors this is a speculative bid on IonQ's story, not a repricing of quantum computing as an industry. IBM (NYSE:IBM) separately finalized a federal award under the CHIPS and Science Act for a quantum wafer facility in Albany, New York, and is committing funds of its own to the project. That's a real capital commitment to quantum infrastructure. Yet, it isn't what's driving the four small names higher this morning, which further supports reading the day's action as narrow enthusiasm around IonQ rather than a sector call. What to Watch The bull case for IonQ rests on whether the optimization result becomes revenue. A research disclosure isn't a customer, and the three peers that announced nothing rose nearly as much, which says the bid is thematic rather than a judgment on IonQ's specific work. IonQ stock is also down over the past month even after this morning's gain, so this is a bounce inside a decline rather than a breakout. Investors can watch for signs that IonQ's optimization work translates into paying customers rather than further papers, and traders may want to keep an eye on whether today's move in IonQ holds once the sympathy trade in D-Wave, Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc. fades. Position sizing in IonQ shares should reflect that wider pattern. The four pure plays trade as a basket on catalyst days, so an IonQ stock position carries correlated risk to whatever moves the group next, and shareholders should keep their exposure calibrated to that volatility rather than to the headline. Got $1,000?

Before You Buy IONQ, Read This If you have cash sitting in your account right now, give this two minutes. After more than two decades of helping investors beat the market, our top analysts at 24/7 Wall St. put together a definitive report on the Top 10 Stocks To Buy Today. And IONQ wasn't one of them. They combed the entire market. It's not 10 ideas, not 10 stocks everyone is talking about, it's what their research points to as the 10 best stocks to buy right now, and it's free. Read more here and see which stocks made the list -->> Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.