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Quantum computing has the potential to eclipse traditional computing.
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IonQ is the current leader in quantum computing accuracy.
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It is working on scaling up its offering to commercially viable levels.
Nvidia has been the defining investment in the artificial intelligence (AI) race, with hardware that’s the industry standard, giving the company a huge market share. However, there’s another trend looming that could eclipse Nvidia’s rise: quantum computing.
Some of these stocks have already surpassed Nvidia’s growth rate. IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), one of the leaders in quantum computing, has actually outperformed it since the AI race began in 2023. The chipmaker’s stock has risen an impressive 1,240%, while IonQ’s is up 1,510%.
If IonQ’s technology becomes the standard in quantum computing — much as Nvidia’s has in accelerated computing — it could be poised for decades of explosive growth, making it a great stock to buy now.
Quantum computing has the potential to eclipse the processing power of traditional computing. This is why there are several companies vying for supremacy in the technology: A gold mine awaits whatever company can make the world’s first commercially viable quantum computer. Two roadblocks are in the way of that right now: accuracy and scale.
Accuracy is obviously a predominant factor to consider. An inaccurate computer is a useless one, and until quantum computers can achieve acceptable accuracy levels, they won’t be a useful technology.
IonQ is striving for more precise calculations, and it currently holds the record as the most accurate quantum computer, at 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity. This metric measures how accurate a calculation is after passing through two processing gates, and is an industry-standard test.
Most companies have yet to achieve 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity, so IonQ is a whole order of magnitude ahead of the competition. That’s a big deal, giving it leadership in the industry.
The next test for IonQ is scalability. In the press release announcing the achievement of 99.99% fidelity, the company also said that it has reached the base-level accuracy it was aiming for before working on scaling up its computer. The goal is a computer with millions of qubits by 2030, which would allow it to bring a commercially viable device to market.
Time will tell how this pursuit ends up, but IonQ is clearly in the lead. Still, is it a better investment than Nvidia?
Nobody knows what the quantum computing market will look like a decade from now. However, one bold proclamation from IonQ’s CEO was that he believes its products could replace graphics processing units (GPUs), which Nvidia and its peers make.