IonQ leads Rigetti in quantum race with $64.7M in quarterly revenue

IonQ generated 15 times more revenue than Rigetti in the first quarter, widening the gap between the two publicly traded quantum computing pure plays.

IonQ's trapped-ion quantum computers delivered $64.7 million in first-quarter revenue, a 755% surge from a year earlier, while Rigetti's superconducting approach produced $4.4 million.

"We're seeing real commercial demand, not just government grants," IonQ Chief Executive Peter Chapman said on the earnings call, citing the sale of the company's first 256-qubit system during the quarter.

IonQ reported 99.99% 2-qubit gate fidelity — a measure of computational accuracy — compared with Rigetti's 99.1% on its new 108-qubit Cepheus-1-108Q processor. IonQ's remaining performance obligations, or contracted revenue not yet recognized, reached a record $470 million. The company ended the quarter with $3.1 billion in cash. Rigetti held $569 million with no debt.

McKinsey estimates quantum computing could generate $1.3 trillion to $2.7 trillion in economic value by 2035, though the consulting firm projects only $60 billion to $100 billion of that will accrue to hardware and software producers. Both companies remain deeply unprofitable — IonQ expects adjusted EBITDA losses exceeding $300 million this year.

Two Technologies, Two Trajectories

IonQ builds trapped-ion quantum computers, a design that traps individual charged atoms in electromagnetic fields and manipulates them with lasers. The approach delivers industry-leading gate fidelity — the accuracy of quantum operations — but operates at slower speeds than superconducting alternatives. Rigetti uses superconducting circuits, the same general technology pursued by International Business Machines Corp. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, with gate speeds measured in tens of nanoseconds. The trade-off: superconducting systems require cryogenic cooling near absolute zero and have historically struggled to match trapped-ion fidelity.

Rigetti Chief Executive Subodh Kulkarni said the company believes it can reach quantum advantage — the point at which quantum computers outperform classical machines on commercially useful tasks — within three years if it reaches roughly 1,000 qubits while maintaining high fidelity and effective error mitigation. IonQ, by contrast, has already begun selling commercial systems internationally, expanding into more than 30 countries during the first quarter.

The Valuation Gap

IonQ's market capitalization reflects its commercial lead. The company raised full-year revenue guidance to between $260 million and $270 million after the first-quarter beat. Rigetti, still reliant on government development contracts, has not issued comparable commercial guidance. Both companies reported GAAP profit in the first quarter, but in each case it resulted primarily from noncash warrant accounting adjustments rather than operating earnings.

For investors, the divergence raises a question of timing. IonQ has demonstrated that quantum computing can generate real revenue today, but its shares trade at a premium that assumes the technology's addressable market materializes on schedule. Rigetti offers a cheaper entry point but carries execution risk on both technology and commercial adoption. Skeptics note that a mature, revolutionary version of quantum computing may remain decades away, and that industry insiders' timelines may be optimistic.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.