The quantum computing industry is soaring after the Department of Commerce announced plans to provide $2 billion in federal incentives to nine quantum companies.
IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) wasn’t on the list, but it was the first publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company and has seen its share price increase 56% on the year (through May 28)
IonQ is arguably the most successful pure-play quantum company, too, as it was the first to surpass $100 million in annual revenue. Even though it’s already up big, there’s another major catalyst that could lift the entire industry higher this year. Quantum advantage in 2026 In a first-quarter earnings call, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said he believes the company’s partners will achieve the first examples of quantum advantage this year.
The computing giant has also launched an open community quantum advantage tracker, where researchers can collect, validate, and compare results. While there’s no strict definition of quantum advantage, it generally refers to a demonstration that a quantum computer can solve a commercially relevant problem faster than a classical computer. This would essentially serve as validation for the entire quantum computing industry, as at the moment, there are still questions about its commercial applications.