Why IonQ Stock Surged Higher Today

IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) stock posted big gains in Friday's trading. The quantum-computing company's share price closed out the daily session up 12.9%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index ended the day roughly flat, and the Nasdaq Composite index closed out the session up 0.1%.

IonQ stock gained ground today amid rising investor enthusiasm for quantum-computing stocks. The recent bullish surge in the space was kicked off earlier this week by the unveiling of Alphabet's Willow chip, which has delivered a major leap forward in quantum capabilities.

IonQ gets a boost from Alphabet's Willow

On Monday, Alphabet's Google division published a blog post detailing the achievements of its new Willow chip. The tech giant also published a report in Nature detailing the results of a benchmark test achieved by the chip.

Google's Willow chip managed to complete a random circuit sampling (RCS) benchmark computing test in less than five minutes. These tests are used as a way to measure the capabilities and efficiency of quantum-computing machines at tasks that are far more difficult for traditional computers. For comparison, Google says that the benchmark computing test completed with its Willow chip would have taken one of the world's top supercomputers 10 septillion years to finish.

As a result of Willow's benchmark test results, Alphabet saw a significant uptick in bullish momentum. IonQ stock initially fell following the Willow news, but it gained ground today as investors poured into quantum-computing stocks. But even with today's gains, the company's share price still ended the week down 11.5%.

What comes next for IonQ stock?

Alphabet is potentially a competitor for IonQ in the quantum-computing space. Additionally, it's a much larger company and has access to much greater computing and financial resources. Accordingly, it's difficult to map out what exactly the achievements of Google's Willow chip will mean for the smaller company's long-term performance outlook.

On the other hand, the Willow chip appears to have solved a significant problem in quantum computing -- and that could ultimately be a good thing for IonQ. The Willow chip has actually been able to deliver lower error rates as qubits within the system are scaled. This marks a major departure, as error rates have normally increased in conjunction with the number of qubits. Google also says that errors are able to be corrected in real time within the Willow circuit.

The chip's impressive technology could wind up being utilized by IonQ at some point. Alternatively, the company could aim to produce similar technological results on its own now that the significant qubit scaling result has been achieved. While commercial applications for quantum computing aren't expected to arrive before 2030, recent progress for the technology and the potential for it to power huge leaps forward for artificial intelligence and other categories could continue pushing IonQ stock higher.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.