In the Discworld of high finance, where wizards trade spells for shares and dragons hoard data instead of gold, there exists a peculiar creature known as IonQ.1 This beast, purveyor of quantum computing enchantments, has drawn the attention of the Guild of Alchemists and Venture Capitalists like a shiny trinket in a thief’s lair. Yet, as with all things that glitter, one must ask: is this a treasure or merely a trick of the light?
Investors, those intrepid explorers of the capital markets, have been known to chase the next big thing with the fervor of a disciple seeking enlightenment. Quantum computing, they whisper, is the philosopher’s stone of the modern age—a solution in search of a problem, yet one that promises to transmute mere bits into boundless possibility.2 IonQ, with its prototype quantum processor that fits in a room (albeit a room the size of a small village), has become the latest talisman in this quest.
But let us not be deceived by the sheen of innovation. For every wizard who conjures a miracle, there are a dozen apprentices brewing potions that fizzle. IonQ’s recent quarterly revenue? A paltry 7.6 million dollars—a sum that would make a dragon yawn, let alone fund the upkeep of a technology that demands temperatures colder than the back end of a very cold dragon.3
The stock’s 420% surge over the past year is less a triumph of foresight and more the result of a sudden burst of popularity in a village where everyone’s heard of quantum computing but no one’s ever seen it work. At a price-to-sales ratio of 208, IonQ now trades at a valuation that would make the Unseen University of Coders4 reconsider its entire curriculum. One might as well buy a ticket to the Moon on the assumption that squirrels will one day invent rocket boots.
And yet, the allure persists. For in the grand tradition of speculative manias—from the Dutch tulip craze to the dot-com delirium—there is a certain poetic justice in buying a solution to a problem that doesn’t yet exist. IonQ’s future, like the weather in Ankh-Morpork, is impossible to predict and always subject to sudden, violent change.
So, dear reader, while the Guild of Alchemists and Venture Capitalists may be busy drafting their spells of prosperity, a contrarian investor might do well to remember: the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time? Perhaps not at all.
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1 Footnote: IonQ’s prototype, while compact by quantum standards, still requires a cooling system that could freeze a troll’s tears. The Discworld’s own L-Space is reportedly colder, but it’s also non-Euclidean and not recommended for first-time travelers.
2 Footnote: The problem in question is currently under review by the Department of Redundant Problems at the University of Folly. Preliminary findings suggest it may be a “problem of scale,” a phrase that always sounds urgent but rarely is.
3 Footnote: For context, a dragon’s hoard typically generates 7.6 million dollars in annual interest alone. IonQ’s entire revenue is less than the cost of polishing a single gold sovereign.
4 Footnote: A fictional institution where wizards and coders collaborate on projects like “The Great Regex Spell” and “Automated Bureaucracy for the Discworld.” Graduates are known to charge 1,000% of market rate for their services.
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2025-08-05 07:30