TLDR
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Quantinuum (QNT) to Overweight from Equal-Weight and called it its “top quantum play.”
- QNT stock rose 11% to $36.68 on Thursday, while the firm cut its price target to $62 from $78.
- QNT trades at the lowest multiple in its peer group, according to the analysts.
- IonQ (IONQ) price target fell to $43 from $49, and it remains Equal-Weight.
- Quantinuum’s Sol system is due in 2027 and is seen as the next major catalyst.
Quantinuum (QNT) stock rose 11% to $36.68 on Thursday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to Overweight from Equal-Weight. The bank called it its “top quantum play.”
Quantinuum Inc. Class A Common Stock, QNT
The move came on a day when the Nasdaq was under pressure and the S&P 500 was slightly lower. That made the jump a company-specific one. Investing.com reported the stock was up 4.5% in pre-open trading.
Morgan Stanley also lowered its price target to $62 from $78. The cut reflects a slide in the stock since its June trading debut. Even so, the new target sits well above Thursday’s price.
Shares had been trading near a 52-week low of $33.02 before the upgrade. The June IPO was an industry first, but it failed to keep its momentum.
Why Morgan Stanley Likes Quantinuum
Analyst Joseph Moore argued that Quantinuum leads its pure-play peers in both technology and execution. It also carries the lowest valuation multiple against 2030 revenue projections. The bank called it a compelling entry point.
The analysts said “the market is least confident in Quantinuum.” They also said the gap between their view and the market’s is far larger for this stock than for its rivals.
Quantinuum leads in error correction, which is a key step toward building useful quantum systems. The analysts also praised its published technical results. They said those results offer clarity when peers make inflated claims.
Insiders have been buyers too. They picked up about $24.7 million in stock over the past year, with no reported selling.
The upgrade leaves Quantinuum as the only Buy-rated quantum stock in the bank’s coverage. Morgan Stanley rates IonQ, Infleqtion (INFQ) and Xanadu Quantum Technologies all at Equal-Weight.
How the Peers Stack Up
IonQ (IONQ) closed at $34.35 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut its target to $43 from $49, which still implies about 25% upside. The bank said IonQ has the strongest outside validation of its scaling plan but sits behind Quantinuum on technology.
IonQ has yet to show it can repeat earlier error-correction results on Superion, its newest machine. It does hold a slight edge in manufacturing after buying SkyWater Technology.
Infleqtion rose 4% to $9.48. The bank has doubts about its road map, though an on-time next-generation system in 2027 could be a catalyst.
Xanadu climbed 5% to $3.34. Morgan Stanley sees a range of outcomes from $1 to $9 and said the company may need more funding.
On the tech side, Quantinuum’s Helios system produced 48 error-corrected logical qubits when it launched in late 2025. The Sol and Apollo systems are set for 2027 and 2029, with logical qubits expected to reach the hundreds.
CEO Rajeeb Hazra told Barron’s the company is now building on an architecture rather than restarting with each generation. Morgan Stanley sees the largest revenue chance for Quantinuum in 2030, in a $10 billion market. It projects a $100 billion market by 2040.
Sol is the next catalyst, and the main risk is any delay to Apollo. QNT closed Thursday at $36.68, up 11% on the day.
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