Quantum Computing Just Had Its First Big IPO, but Is the Stock a Buy?
Written by Geoffrey Seiler for The Motley Fool -> Quantinuum is using a trapped-ion qubit approach similar to IonQ's. One of the company's strengths is its software stack. The stock fell below its IPO price on the second day of trading, and was only slightly above it as of mid
Quantinuum is using a trapped-ion qubit approach similar to IonQ's.
The stock fell below its IPO price on the second day of trading, and was only slightly above it as of midday Monday.
Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT) became the first-ever quantum computing pure play to join the market via an initial public offering (IPO) when it debuted earlier this month. Before that, all quantum computing companies had come to market via SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) transactions -- reverse mergers with publicly traded shell companies.
The company originally proposed selling just over 21 million shares at somewhere between $45 and $60, before upping that to 26.5 million shares at between $53 and $55. The stock opened trading at $68 on June 4, above its eventual $60 IPO price, before closing its first day of trading up just 1% at $60.36. However, it fell below its IPO price on just its second day of trading. As of midday Monday, the stock was trading a hair above the $60 mark.
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Assuming the exercise of share overallotments, the deal valued the company at just under $16 billion, which would make it one of the largest pure-play quantum computing stocks by market cap. That's bigger than companies like D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing , but smaller than IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) , which is currently valued at over $25 billion.
Quantinuum describes itself as having a full-stack quantum computing platform. The company was created out of the merger of Honeywell 's quantum computing unit and Cambridge Quantum in 2021. Honeywell continues to hold a majority stake in the company and remains a key partner and customer.
Similar to IonQ, Quantinuum has forgone the use of superconducting qubits -- a more commonly used technology in the space -- and instead opted to pursue trapped-ion technology. This technology creates its qubits using individual electrically charged atoms (ions), and they tend to be more stable and less prone to error than superconducting qubits.
