IonQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ) shares are trading up on Wednesday afternoon. The Nasdaq is up 1.22% while the S&P 500 has gained 0.68%.

Northland Capital Sets Bullish Target

Analyst Nehal Chokshi of Northland Capital Markets initiated coverage on IonQ this week.

Chokshi assigned an Outperform rating to the quantum firm. The analyst set a price forecast of $55.

Short Interest Fuels Squeeze Potential

Traders are eyeballing a potential short squeeze. Short interest recently rose to 80.93 million shares. This represents 22.78% of the company's float. It would take 4.48 days for shorts to cover their positions.

The stock gained 50% last week following a DARPA contract win.

Quantum Sector Momentum

Broader interest remains high. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) recently launched Ising AI models.

S&P Global analysts noted, "2025 ignited interest. 2026 is triggering change." Industry revenue could hit $9 billion this year.

Technical Analysis

IonQ is back in the upper half of its 52-week range of $23.48 to $84.64. The stock is trading 39.6% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 15.4% above its 100-day SMA.

The relative strength index (RSI), a momentum gauge, is 72.48.

Even with price strength, the longer moving-average structure is still mixed: the death cross in February (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA) is a reminder that the longer-term trend only recently started stabilizing, with the stock just 0.9% above its 200-day SMA.

  • Key Resistance: $55.50
  • Key Support: $44

IONQ Stock Price Activity: IonQ shares were up 2.38% at $47.38 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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