On Monday, September 28, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) initiated coverage of an Nvidia-linked quantum computing company called IonQ (NYSE: IONQ).
Specifically, BofA’s Vivek Arya issued a ‘Buy’ rating for the equity and set his 12-month price target at $60 per share – 31.93% above the latest closing price of $45.48.
According to the Wall Street expert, IonQ is already the largest public company among its pure-play peers, and has successfully been using acquisitions to expand across several kindred fields, including quantum sensing, security, networking, foundry and space services.
The analyst underlined the firm’s path to scaling its qubit count using semiconductors, and broad customer engagement and exposure as especially positive.
Notably, IonQ logged an important milestone on September 2 when it deployed its Superion 256 quantum computer at Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) Accelerated Quantum Research Center (NVAQC) with the stated goal of addressing ‘the fundamental challenges of scaling quantum processors into a new class of accelerated quantum supercomputers.’
Wall Street sets IonQ stock price target for the next 12 months
Elsewhere, BofA is far from being the biggest IonQ optimist on Wall Street. Indeed, the equity is, overall, rated as a ‘Strong Buy,’ with eleven positive, one neutral, and no ‘Sell’ recommendations, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on September 28.
Additionally, the average 12 month price target for IonQ stock stands at $71, meaning institutional experts are expecting the equity to rally 56.11% within the timeframe.
Looking at the September notes, Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) Joseph Moore was the only analyst to refrain from providing a ‘Buy’ rating, instead opting for ‘Hold’, though his $49 forecast is, nonetheless, bullish.
John McPeake from Rosenblatt Securities, meanwhile, came in at the other end of the spectrum on September 9 as he not only issued a positive recommendation for IonQ stock, but also gave the Street high $100 estimate for a 119.88% rally in the next 12 months.
IonQ stock price performance in 2026
Lastly, the quantum equity’s actual stock market performance has yet to match Wall Street’s optimism. The equity remained essentially flat through the first half of September, and only the most recent two weeks – accelerated by the Nvidia deal – brought the rally that took it 16.02% higher to $45.48 at the latest close.
The long-term picture is, however, still somewhat discouraging. Despite seeing several rallies – including the 150% upsurge between mid-April and late May – IonQ stock is 2.76% in the red year-to-date (YTD).
Featured image via Shutterstock
