July 30, 2025 — 05:15 am EDT\n\nWritten by Keithen Drury for <a> The Motley Fool-&gt; </a>\n\nKey Points\nIonQ is a popular pure-play quantum computing stock pick.\nInvesting in IonQ is far riskier than in many of the big tech companies involved with quantum computing. \n\nIonQ <a>(NYSE: IONQ)</a> has been one of the top pure-play quantum computing stock picks recently. It is taking a unique approach to quantum computing, which could pay off massively in the end. Although the stock has had an impressive run over the past few months, a single announcement can send shares soaring.\n\nOne of those could be coming on Aug. 6, when IonQ announces Q2 results. But is that a good enough reason to buy the stock now?\n\n\nIonQ must be successful, or the stock will become worthless\nIonQ's popularity stems from its pure-play status. While there are many competitors in this exciting and emerging industry, IonQ is a more attractive investment option (alongside its pure-play peers) than some of the big tech companies due to the potential returns. IonQ is only an $11 billion company by market cap, making it quite small <a>compared to some of its largest competitors</a>, whose market caps are valued in the trillions. \n\nShould IonQ win the quantum computing arms race, the upside could be immense. However, there is also a downside to being this small. The biggest factor is resources.\n\nOne giant in the <a>quantum computing</a> industry is Alphabet. Its Willow chip kicked off the latest round of quantum computing interest in December last year, and its technology is among the top in the quantum computing world.\n\nAlphabet also has nearly an unlimited amount of resources to throw at this technology. Over the past 12 months, it generated nearly $70 billion in free cash flow. Sparing an extra $1 billion or so to fund quantum computing research would hardly be anything for Alphabet, yet that much money would be a huge deal for IonQ.\n\nIonQ has few revenue streams outside various research contracts that it has won, as commercial viability is still being established. So it must wisely spend what cash it has on hand. It can always raise more capital by issuing more shares or taking on debt, but neither of those options is great for shareholders.\n\nThis raises another important point with IonQ: It's an all-or-nothing proposition. With a large player like Alphabet, it has a legacy business that it can lean on while the quantum computing side of things gets up and running. For IonQ, it's success -- or the stock goes to $0.\n\nThat all-or-nothing approach can result in a wide variety of investment outcomes, making the risk significantly higher with IonQ's stock than with one of the large quantum computing players. But as long as investors keep that in mind, IonQ could still be a viable investment opportunity.\n\nBut does that mean investors should scoop up shares now before IonQ's Q2 earnings report?\n\n\nIonQ likely wouldn't wait until quarterly earnings to announce big news\nThere are only a handful of factors that will significantly impact IonQ's stock. The first is a new partnership or research agreement. These are often announced in press releases, and IonQ likely wouldn't wait until a quarterly report to announce something like this. Another item that could move the stock is a performance breakthrough, and once again, that's something that would be announced in a press release.\n\nThere isn't a ton of news that investors are waiting on in the quarterly earnings report. As a result, waiting around for the report to be released isn't a smart investing strategy.\n\n<a>If you believe in IonQ's trapped-ion approach</a> or simply want exposure to the space, acquiring shares of IonQ now is a smart move, as it could announce groundbreaking performance at any time. However, investors should keep position sizing fairly small to compensate for the huge risk the stock represents.\n\n\nShould you invest $1,000 in IonQ right now?\nBefore you buy stock in IonQ, consider this:\n\nThe Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the <a>10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.\n\nConsider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $633,452!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,083,392!*\n\nNow, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,046% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.\n\n<a>See the 10 stocks »</a>\n\n\nThe views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Should You Buy IonQ Stock Before Aug. 6?

The article discusses IonQ's position as a pure-play quantum computing company, highlighting its unique approach and risks. It analyzes the company's $11 billion market cap compared to larger competitors like Alphabet, and advises investors on whether to buy IonQ stock before its Q2 earnings report on August 6.