Why IonQ Inc. (IONQ) Crashed On Tuesday?

We recently published a list of 10 Firms Heavily Hit by Market Pessimism. In this article, we are going to take a look at where IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) stands against other firms heavily hit by market pessimism.

Wall Street finished in the red territory on Tuesday, as investors repositioned their portfolios ahead of the Fed rate decision on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq dropped the highest among its peers, declining 1.71 percent. The S&P 500 followed with a 1.07-percent loss, while the Dow Jones decreased by 0.62 percent.

The market pessimism spilled over to various sectors, with 10 companies notably hit the most.

In this article, we have identified the 10 worst performers on Tuesday and detailed the reasons behind their drop.

To come up with the list, we only considered the stocks with a $2-billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.

Why IonQ Inc. (IONQ) Crashed On Tuesday?

A quantum computer on a countertop in an engineering laboratory with a technician at work.

IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ saw its share prices drop by 9.03 percent on Tuesday to end at $22.68 each as investors repositioned portfolios amid a cautious broader market while waiting for fresh catalysts to boost buying appetite.

IONQ is currently participating in the ongoing week-long NVIDIA GTC event in San Jose, California where its executive chairman, Peter Chapman, will join a panel discussion on the current and future landscape of quantum computing.

With the theme, “Quantum Computing: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed,” investors will be looking out for further cues and business plans from the company.

In other news, IONQ was recently criticized by a short seller over its valuation, growth projections, and transparency.

In its report on Thursday, short seller Kerrisdale Capital criticized IONQ’s lofty growth projections and questioned the viability of its technology. It said that despite IONQ’s claims of significant technical and commercial milestones, the company was struggling with scalability.

“Although IONQ’s stock price has retreated from its all-time high, it is still trading at a value reaching 40 times its projected revenue for 2026,” the short seller said. “However, we believe IONQ is far from achieving new commercial success.”

Overall, IONQ ranks 9th on our list of firms heavily hit by market pessimism. While we acknowledge the potential of IONQ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as IONQ but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.