IonQ Lifts 2026 Revenue Outlook After Record $173.8 Million Quarter

IonQ raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $505 million to $515 million on November 5, 2026, after third-quarter revenue climbed 336% year over year to $173.8 million, the company announced. The quarter ended September 30, 2026, was its sixth consecutive record quarter.

The new range exceeds the $450 million to $460 million combined-company outlook issued on September 8, 2026. That forecast included SkyWater Technology (SKYT ) from its July 31, 2026 acquisition through December 31, 2026, and eliminated estimated intercompany revenue under the companies’ pre-existing commercial agreement. September is therefore the closer comparison for this increase than the August 5, 2026 outlook of $280 million to $290 million, which expressly excluded SkyWater. IonQ also expects 110% year-over-year growth in full-year quantum-computing revenue.

SkyWater Reshapes the Revenue Base

The segment results show the acquisition’s contribution to the larger revenue base. IonQ reported that IonQ Platform revenue rose 127% to $90.3 million on global Tempo quantum-computer deployments, while SkyWater Foundry Services contributed $83.5 million. Revenue from SkyWater’s non-IonQ quantum customers increased more than 30% year over year as SkyWater Quantum Solutions launched.

Chief operating officer and chief financial officer Inder Singh said: “Our Remaining Performance Obligations more than doubled to $1.2 billion, even as we converted our backlog into record third quarter revenues. This was an especially strong quarter in quantum computing, which represented approximately two-thirds of new contract dollars signed by our IonQ Platform segment, driven by Superion 256 demand.”

Remaining performance obligations, or RPO, represent the transaction price from signed contracts allocated to unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied performance obligations. The measure includes funded and unfunded portions, but unexercised options are excluded until exercised. SkyWater’s presentation has been conformed to IonQ’s policy, which includes contracts expected to last less than one year.

Recent IonQ Platform awards include a $33 million SDT contract for a Superion 256 and quantum-memory platform, a $25 million Florida International University Superion 256 deployment, and a $28 million DARPA contract for 25 optical atomic clocks. The DARPA award includes a separate $30 million option for 100 additional production units; under the RPO policy, that option is not counted until exercised.

Warrant Accounting Drives GAAP Profit

Net income attributable to IonQ was $564.0 million, or $1.42 in basic GAAP earnings per share and $1.35 in diluted earnings per share, compared with a $1.055 billion loss and a $3.58 loss per share a year earlier. A major reconciling factor was an $896.2 million gain from changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities, versus an $881.8 million loss in the prior-year quarter. The non-cash warrant movement helped produce GAAP profit even as the operating loss widened.

Loss from operations increased to $433.1 million from $168.8 million as total operating costs and expenses rose to $606.9 million from $208.7 million. Research and development expense reached $141.7 million, up from $66.3 million, while depreciation and amortization increased to $127.6 million from $24.2 million.

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes items including fair-value changes, stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, and acquisition transaction and integration costs, was a loss of $133.6 million, compared with $48.9 million a year earlier. The wider adjusted loss reinforces the contrast between the warrant-driven bottom-line profit and the cost of expanding the business.

Equity Capital Meets Higher Cash Use

Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $1.7 billion at September 30, 2026, and were $3.7 billion pro forma for the $2.0 billion equity offering that closed on October 16, 2026. The additional capital follows heavier cash use: net cash used in operating activities for the first nine months of 2026 was $570.3 million, compared with $208.7 million in the corresponding 2025 period.

Purchases of property and equipment during those nine months were $34.9 million, up from $7.6 million, while businesses acquired net of cash paid and acquired used $926.2 million, compared with $13.1 million a year earlier.

IonQ exits the quarter with a larger revenue base, more contracted work and additional equity capital, but also wider operating and adjusted losses and substantially greater cash use. The central question for subsequent results is whether converting signed work into revenue can narrow the gap between commercial expansion and the cost of building the combined quantum platform and foundry.