--- title: "Why Did IonQ Stock Pop Today?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/287244531.md" description: "IonQ's stock rose 9.5% following the U.S. government's announcement of $2 billion in quantum computing grants, although IonQ itself will not receive any funding. Instead, smaller competitors like D-Wave, Infleqtion, and Rigetti will benefit from the grants. Analysts express skepticism about IonQ's future profitability, suggesting investors consider other stocks recommended by The Motley Fool." datetime: "2026-05-21T15:20:35.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/287244531.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287244531.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/287244531.md) --- # Why Did IonQ Stock Pop Today? ## Key Points - The U.S. government plans to award $2 billion in quantum computing grants. - It will take equity stakes in grant recipients. - It will give no money, nor take a stake in IonQ. - 10 stocks we like better than IonQ › Valued at $19.6 billion, **IonQ** (NYSE: IONQ) stock is the biggest pure play on quantum computing you can buy. That's the good news for IonQ today. The bad news is that... the United States government is _not_ buying IonQ stock -- but it's buying shares in just about everybody _but_ IonQ. This is the news that's moving IonQ stock up 9.5% through 10:35 a.m. ET Thursday morning: _**Will AI create the world's first trillionaire?** Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. **Continue »**_ According to an exclusive report in today's _The Wall Street Journal_, the Trump Administration will award $2 billion in grants to nine quantum computing companies and take equity stakes to secure its investment in each. Image source: Getty Images. ## Money for thee, but not for me IonQ is not one of these companies, but its smaller publicly traded rivals **D-Wave Quantum** (NYSE: QBTS), **Infleqtion** (NYSE: INFQ), and **Rigetti Computing** (NASDAQ: RGTI) are all receiving grants and investments. So too is that old dinosaur of computing, **International Business Machines** (NYSE: IBM) -- which indeed is getting half the funds on offer, a nice, round $1 billion. D-Wave, Infleqtion, and Rigetti will each receive $100 million. **Globalfoundries** (NASDAQ: GFS) will get $375 million, and the rest will be parceled out among a handful of privately owned companies -- including one part-owned by Donald Trump Jr's 1789 Capital! But again, no money for IonQ. ## What does this mean for IonQ stock? So how is any of this good news for IonQ, if it's getting _no_ money, and everyone else is getting a _lot_ of money -- plus backing from the U.S. government that will give it an interest in seeing IonQ's rivals succeed (and perhaps that IonQ fails)? I honestly don't get the logic behind investors buying IonQ on this news. With analysts still expecting the stock to lose money for years, it may be time to sell. ## Should you buy stock in IonQ right now? Before you buy stock in IonQ, consider this: The _Motley Fool Stock Advisor_ analyst team just identified what they believe are the **10 best stocks** for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when **Netflix** made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, **you’d have $475,063**!\* Or when **Nvidia** made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, **you’d have $1,369,991**!\* Now, it’s worth noting _Stock Advisor’s_ total average return is 996% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 208% for the S&P 500. **Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with _Stock Advisor_, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.** **See the 10 stocks »** _\*Stock Advisor returns as of May 21, 2026._ _Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends GlobalFoundries, International Business Machines, and IonQ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy._ The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. ### Related Stocks - [IONQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IONQ.US.md) - [INFQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/INFQ.US.md) - [QBTS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QBTS.US.md) - [RGTI.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RGTI.US.md) - [IONX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IONX.US.md) - [QPUX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QPUX.US.md) - [IONL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IONL.US.md) - [NVDA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDA.US.md) - [INTC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/INTC.US.md) - [IBM.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IBM.US.md) - [GFS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GFS.US.md) - [NFLX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NFLX.US.md) - [.SPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.SPX.US.md) - [NDAQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NDAQ.US.md) - [IONQ+.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IONQ+.US.md) - [NVD.DE](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVD.DE.md) - [QBTS+.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QBTS+.US.md) - [INFQ+.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/INFQ+.US.md) - [RGTIW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RGTIW.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [IonQ (IONQ) Is Building the Real Deal in Quantum but at a Steep Price](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287035438.md) - [3 Stocks to Take Advantage of the $72 Billion Quantum Computing Industry](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287036448.md) - [Rigetti signs letter of intent with the US government for quantum computing research](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287211872.md) - [Did Amazon Just Deliver a Sweeping Blow to IonQ?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287254453.md) - [41,291 Shares in IonQ, Inc. $IONQ Acquired by Spear Advisors LLC](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287217260.md)