Quantum (NASDAQ:QMCO – Get Free Report) and IonQ (NYSE:IONQ – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Quantum and IonQ, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Quantum | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.60 |
| IonQ | 1 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2.60 |
Quantum presently has a consensus target price of $26.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.62%. IonQ has a consensus target price of $67.17, suggesting a potential upside of 71.58%. Given IonQ’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe IonQ is more favorable than Quantum.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Quantum | $279.58 million | 3.54 | -$101.05 million | ($13.24) | -1.90 |
| IonQ | $130.02 million | 114.71 | -$510.38 million | ($4.66) | -8.40 |
Quantum has higher revenue and earnings than IonQ. IonQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quantum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
63.7% of Quantum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.4% of IonQ shares are held by institutional investors. 41.0% of Quantum shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of IonQ shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
Quantum has a beta of 3.14, suggesting that its share price is 214% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IonQ has a beta of 3.3, suggesting that its share price is 230% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Quantum and IonQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Quantum | -80.76% | N/A | -7.28% |
| IonQ | -553.27% | -22.29% | -13.20% |
Summary
Quantum beats IonQ on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Quantum
Quantum Corporation provides products for storing and managing digital video and unstructured data in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers Myriad All-Flash File and Object Storage Software for high performance enterprise unstructured data applications such as AI, machine learning, and data analytics; Unified Surveillance Platform Software that unified compute and storage for video surveillance recording, storage, and analytics; StorNext Hybrid Flash/Disk File Storage Software for video editing, post-production, and streaming applications, as well as digital file archives; and CatDV Asset Management Software for indexing, cataloging, enriching video, audio, and image files, and workflow orchestration. It also provides ActiveScale Object Storage Software that scalable and durable storage for long term data preservation and protection; DXi Backup Appliances to build backup appliances for high-speed backup and recovery and multisite data protection; and Scalar Tape Storage that secure storage for long term data archiving and offline data protection which are used by hyperscalers and enterprises. In addition, the company sells linear tape-open (LTO) a tape drives for small business data protection and archiving; and LTO media for use in tape storage systems. Further, it offers global support, managed services, customer support agreements, software subscriptions, installation, education, and consulting and training services, as well as Quantum-as-a-Service. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, value-added resellers, direct marketing resellers, original equipment manufacturers, and other suppliers, as well as directly to corporate entities and government agencies. It has a partnership with Tiger Surveillance to deliver end-to-end solutions for long-term retention and archiving of video surveillance data. Quantum Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
About IonQ
IonQ, Inc. engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems in the United States. It sells access to quantum computers of various qubit capacities. The company makes access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Braket, Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, and Google’s Cloud Marketplace, as well as through its cloud service. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in College Park, Maryland.
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