3 quantum computing stocks to buy and hold forever - MSN

Quantum computing has gone through two boom-and-bust cycles in the past year. The first started in late 2024, then burst in January. Throughout 2025, quantum computing hype slowly increased before reaching highs previously seen in late 2024, then falling significantly in October and November. This boom-and-bust cycle shouldn't surprise quantum computing investors, as we're still a few years out from the technology becoming commercially viable. As a result, if you're investing in this space, you need to have a long-term mindset and ignore the short-term rise and fall of stocks associated with this industry. If you're interested in investing in this space, I've got three stocks that look like great ones to buy and hold forever, as they could be huge winners if their technology pans out. Image source: Getty Images. Alphabet If I could only pick one quantum computing stock, it would be Alphabet (GOOG +2.03%) (GOOGL +1.63%). Alphabet is best known for owning the Google search engine and is becoming a top competitor in the artificial intelligence realm. It's using some of the cash flows from the successes in other industries to invest in its quantum computing technology, and these investments have paid off so far. Its Willow quantum computing chip is delivering impressive results, and Google recently announced that its Willow chip had delivered the first verifiable quantum advantage. It ran an algorithm on its Willow platform that was completed 13,000 times faster than the world's fastest supercomputer could have done it. This is an impressive feat, but it's not so much faster that the traditional computer couldn't run the calculation itself to verify that the quantum computer gave the correct answer. Google confirmed the quantum computer's results with a traditional computer, and this monumental breakthrough shows that we're getting close to viable quantum computing, providing real advantages for its users.Advertisement CollapseNASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetToday's Change(1.63%) $5.13Current Price$319.47GOOGLYTD1w1m3m6m1y5yPriceVS S&PKey Data PointsMarket Cap$3.8TDay's Range$314.19 - $322.2952wk Range$140.53 - $328.83Volume9.7MAvg Vol36MGross Margin59.18%Dividend Yield0.26% Alphabet has the resources that quantum computing start-ups don't have, making it a strong player in this space. Even if Alphabet fails in its quantum computing investments, it still has a strong business to lean on, so investors aren't at risk of losing all of their money. Where to invest $1,000 right now When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor’s total average return is 971%* — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 196% for the S&P 500. They just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks › *Stock Advisor returns as of January 7, 2026. IonQ There is no backup plan for IonQ (IONQ +0.20%); it's quantum computing relevance or bust. Investors must be aware of the risk-reward profile here. IonQ could provide incredible returns, or it could go to $0. IonQ uses a trapped ion approach in its quantum computing technology, which is a technique that isn't extremely popular. However, the trapped ion approach has its advantages, as it's inherently more accurate than some other types of quantum computing. While its competitors are chsing 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity (a measure of how accurate a quantum computer is), IonQ has already achieved 99.99%. CollapseIONQNYSE: IONQIonQToday's Change(0.20%) $0.10Current Price$50.86IONQYTD1w1m3m6m1y5yPriceVS S&PKey Data PointsMarket Cap$18BDay's Range$49.53 - $50.9052wk Range$17.88 - $84.64Volume191KAvg Vol25MGross Margin-747.41% This gives IonQ a head start over the field. If it can maintain its accuracy advantage, it could deliver the best returns in the quantum computing investment space. However, if it fails, the stock could head to $0. That's why it's smart to balance IonQ out with other companies that aren't going all-in on quantum computing. Nvidia Nvidia (NVDA +1.84%) isn't directly competing in the quantum computing race. Instead, it's focusing its efforts on providing the best graphics processing units (GPUs) possible. GPUs have been deployed in mass quantities to power massive AI workloads in data centers around the globe, and there's a huge footprint of these accelerated computing units out there already. CollapseNASDAQ: NVDANvidiaToday's Change(1.84%) $3.44Current Price$190.68NVDAYTD1w1m3m6m1y5yPriceVS S&PKey Data PointsMarket Cap$4.5TDay's Range$186.57 - $191.3752wk Range$86.62 - $212.19Volume1.4MAvg Vol186MGross Margin70.05%Dividend Yield0.02% Quantum computing likely won't become a viable computing alternative on its own. Instead, a hybrid approach that combines both quantum computing and traditional computing will likely be the way quantum computing advancement is realized. This makes interfacing with existing computing networks a big deal, which is why Nvidia launched the NVQlink. The NVQlink allows quantum computing companies, like IonQ, to plug into existing GPU computing ecosystems easily. This keeps Nvidia's traditional computing technology stack as the gold standard for accelerated computing, cementing its place in the future even if it's filled with more quantum computing units than its GPUs.