University of Kwazulu-Natal

Quantum Computing 3 Stocks To Consider In 2026 Investing Com

Bonisiwe Shabane
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quantum computing 3 stocks to consider in 2026 investing com

3 events that could make markets decline in 2026 What is the "Donroe Doctrine" and how it impacts oil stocks For equity investors looking beyond incremental AI investments, quantum computing is emerging as one of the most lucrative opportunities heading into 2026. Industry estimates show the global quantum computing market is expected to grow from $0.8 billion in 2025 to $1.08 billion in 2026, with a projected CAGR of 35.2% through 2035 as enterprises accelerate adoption... McKinsey estimates quantum computing-related revenues could reach up to $72 billion by 2035, driven by applications in optimization, materials science, drug discovery and complex financial modeling. For investors, this growth narrative has already translated into outsized stock performance, with several pure-play quantum stocks delivering quadruple-digit returns during 2024–2025 despite the absence of positive earnings, as revenues scaled from a small...

The Defiance Quantum ETF QTUM gained 103.9% during this period. In this article, we discuss three stocks- IonQ IONQ, International Business Machines IBM and NVIDIA NVDA that are expected to deliver significant gains in 2026, banking on accelerating quantum adoption, expanding commercial pipelines and... While revenues remain modest and profitability elusive, the convergence of accelerating enterprise interest, rising government and corporate funding and visible technical progress is positioning 2026 as a potential inflection year, when valuation dispersion between... For investors willing to tolerate volatility, quantum computing increasingly resembles a high-beta, early-cycle technology bet rather than a distant scientific experiment. Capital deployment into the sector is surging, with quantum funding more than doubling year over year in 2025. Going by SPINQ, total equity funding reached $3.77 billion across the first three quarters of 2025, positioning quantum computing among the fastest-growing deep-tech segments globally and setting the stage for further capital inflows in...

Nvidia's GPU dominance provides an opportunity to bridge the gap between current computers and a quantum future. International Business Machines is among the early leaders in quantum hardware and software. Microsoft demonstrated its quantum computing potential with its revolutionary Majorana 1 chip. It's still early, but quantum computing appears to be another significant leap forward in technological innovation. Quantum computers utilize the laws of physics to perform complex calculations exponentially faster than even today's supercomputers can. Researchers at McKinsey & Company anticipate that quantum computing can grow to a $100 billion market over the next decade, and who knows where it will go from there.

Quantum computing is entering a more consequential phase as the industry moves toward 2026. In this case, after years of heavy research spending and experimental deployments, the focus is shifting to scalability, real-world applications, and national strategic priorities. At the same time, governments are increasing funding as quantum technology becomes central to national security and AI sovereignty, while enterprises are beginning to test quantum tools for optimization problems that exceed classical limits. The sector is also drawing investor interest, with a small group of companies demonstrating proven technical capability, commercial traction, and financial strength. IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) enters 2026 with one of the most complete growth profiles in the sector. Through its acquisition of Oxford Ionics, the company is advancing high-fidelity trapped-ion systems beyond 64 qubits, strengthening its position as a scalable, pure-play hardware provider.

Several quantum computing stocks are anticipated to perform well in 2026, notably Microsoft and IonQ, but Alphabet stands out as the most attractive option. Alphabet is expected to benefit from the ongoing AI growth in 2023. Quantum computing is emerging as a transformative technology, with potential applications in climate modeling, cybersecurity, and drug discovery, among others. Wall Street analysts favor Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) for its notable advancements, with 55 out of 57 analysts recommending a “buy” or “strong buy,” and a projected 30% upside in the next 12 months. IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), also a key player, is developing quantum technologies using a trapped-ion architecture and has the largest market cap among rising quantum firms. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) is highlighted as a leading contender, credited with significant breakthroughs in quantum computing through its Google Quantum AI division, which in 2019 demonstrated a computation capability that would take traditional supercomputers...

The company unveiled its first logical qubit prototype in 2023 and aims to create long-lasting qubits for extensive computations. Alphabet’s growth in AI and its cloud services positions it as an attractive investment, although it was not listed among the top 10 recommended stocks currently. Quantum computing stocks surge 2023–2025; IonQ, Rigetti lead; IBM, Microsoft, Google push milestones into 2026. Quantum computing is rapidly evolving from a lab experiment into a nascent industry, with 2025 marking an inflection point in investment and innovation. Enthusiasm has driven quantum computing stocks sharply higher over the past year – several pure-play quantum companies saw their share prices surge hundreds or even thousands of percent in 2023–2025. This rally reflects optimism about quantum technology’s transformative long-term potential (Boston Consulting Group estimates $450–850 billion in economic value by 2040), even as near-term revenues remain modest.‍

As we approach 2026, a handful of U.S.-based companies stand out for credible progress and significant investment in quantum computing. These include both pure-play quantum computing startups focused on quantum processors, as well as tech giants treating quantum as a strategic R&D priority. Below, we profile the top publicly traded U.S. companies leading in quantum computing – highlighting each company’s focus in quantum, recent developments (2023–2025), partnerships, analyst sentiment for 2026, and key metrics like market capitalization and stock performance. A comparison table is provided at the end to summarize their market caps, quantum focus areas, and performance outlook. These are dedicated quantum technology firms whose core business is building quantum computers or related quantum systems.

They offer the most direct exposure to quantum computing’s growth, though they tend to be early-stage with high volatility and risk. IonQ is a Maryland-based pure-play quantum computing company, founded in 2015 as a spin-out from academic research. It specializes in trapped-ion quantum processors, which use electrically trapped ytterbium ions as qubits. This approach offers long coherence times and high fidelity at near-room temperatures, avoiding the extreme cryogenics required by superconducting qubits. IonQ provides access to its quantum systems through cloud platforms like Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, positioning itself as a leader in quantum cloud services. If we go by IBM’s quantum computing roadmap, the first fault-tolerant quantum computer should arrive in 2029.

If it materializes, this milestone should mark the beginning of the sector’s growth. So far, quantum computing systems are yet to win the war against decoherence.Namely, physical qubits are inherently too fragile to transform into robust logical qubits,making quantum error correction (QEC) as important as developing the... QEC, a set of procedures and algorithms, not only detects and mitigates errors but is also the fundamental mechanism for transforming unreliable physical qubits into high-fidelity logical qubits to finally reach quantum advantage over... Although not typically perceived as a quantum computing company, Honeywell has two major advantages. First, as long as the dollar maintains its global reserve currency status, Honeywell will continue to serve the military industrial complex with its aerospace systems, alongside land, naval, satellite and autonomous systems. Honeywell’s Aerospace Technologies (AT) division represented around 42% of the company’s total revenue in Q3 2025, with $4.5 billion (up 15% YoY) out of $10.4 billion total revenue across Industrial Automation (IA), Building Automation...

Secondly, Honeywell has a majority stake in Quantinuum, which has a pre-money valuation of $10 billion, after a $600 million fundraising round in September. In early November, Quantinuum introduced Helios as “the most accurate quantum computer in the world”. According to a paper published on arXiv (operated by Cornell University), Helios achieved single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.9975% by connecting 98 physical qubits with its ion-trapping approach. Effectively, Quantinuum has 94 logical qubits to work with. Quantum computing stocks had an explosive 2024 - with some showing huge returns. The market is transitioning from research to commercialization.

No on knows when consistent profits will come, but these stocks could be potential opportunities for some investors. Companies like Google are trading in regular computers for quantum computers. Why? These computers are so powerful they may be able to do things like break the blockchain in the future.

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