Quantum Fizzbang: IonQ vs. Rigetti

Now, listen closely, because this is about numbers, and numbers don’t lie (unlike some company directors, but we won’t name names). Quantum computing stocks went absolutely bonkers in 2025 – a proper explosion of financial fizzbang. Two companies, IonQ (IONQ +6.75%) and Rigetti Computing (RGTI +3.62%), were bouncing around like excited fleas. Over the last year, IonQ has puffed itself up by 83%, while Rigetti, rather impressively, has gone and tripled itself – a 325% growth spurt.

But which one is more likely to make your pockets jingle with extra coins? Both are a bit of a gamble, mind you – like betting on a snail in a race – but one appears to be the slightly less wobbly prospect. It’s a curious case, this, and requires a bit of peering under the hood.

Precision Beats Speed (and a Bit of Haste)

IonQ and Rigetti, you see, are building these quantum contraptions in rather different ways. Rigetti is all about speed – zipping and zooming with something called ‘superconducting’ – which basically means freezing things until they’re nearly invisible. IonQ, on the other hand, prefers to trap ions – tiny, charged particles – and hold them in place with electromagnetic fields. It’s a bit like keeping particularly fidgety fireflies in a jar.

This leads to a few quirks. Rigetti’s systems are blisteringly fast – reportedly ten thousand times quicker than IonQ’s. But speed, my dear reader, isn’t everything. Imagine a racing car with a broken steering wheel – it might look impressive, but it’s likely to end up in a ditch. IonQ, you see, has the edge in accuracy – a whopping 99.99% fidelity. Rigetti manages a respectable 99.5%, and hopes to reach 99.7% by late 2026. A tiny difference, perhaps, but in the world of quantum computing, 0.49% is the difference between a fortune and a faceplant.

For these quantum machines to be worth a tuppence, they need to be nearly perfect. Otherwise, they’re just calculating the wrong answer, and doing so very, very quickly. That’s not terribly useful, is it?

This higher fidelity translates into, shall we say, a more robust financial physique. IonQ has reported $80 million in revenue over the last twelve months, while Rigetti has scraped together a mere $7 million. IonQ’s revenue has been shooting upwards – a 493% increase over the last three years – while Rigetti’s has… well, it’s shrunk by 43%. A rather gloomy picture for Rigetti, wouldn’t you agree?

If you’re feeling optimistic about quantum computing – and why wouldn’t you, it’s all rather magical – you might be tempted to sprinkle a few coins on both companies. There’s no way to be absolutely certain which one will do better, after all. But, between the two, I’d place my bets on IonQ. Its greater accuracy and impressive revenue growth suggest it’s the slightly less rickety contraption – and in the world of quantum finance, a stable machine is a very good thing indeed.

2026-01-18 18:32

Precision Beats Speed (and a Bit of Haste)

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