IonQ leaps after Amazon reveals $37 million stake in the quantum computing company

IonQ is rallying in premarket trading after tech juggernaut Amazon reported that it held 854,207 shares of the quantum computing stock at the end of Q2 (approximately $37 million worth, or 0.3% of shares outstanding).

Shares were up as much as 5%, but have since pared that gain to 3.7%.

It’s a nice vote of confidence in the company ahead of the release of its quarterly results after the close today. Analysts are looking for revenues of $17.2 million on the quarter, driven by nearly $11 million in hardware sales, with adjusted EBITDA of -$32.6 million.

Amazon, for its part, joined the quantum chip club earlier this year with the release of Ocelot, which it called “a breakthrough in the pursuit to build fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving problems of commercial and scientific importance that are beyond the reach of today’s conventional computers.”

The Andy Jassy-led giant isn’t the only tech titan that has owned IonQ, either. Alphabet formerly held nearly 22 million shares but sold its position in Q2 2022, per Bloomberg data.