Quantum computing firm IonQ raises annual revenue forecast

May 6 (Reuters) - IonQ raised ‌its annual ​revenue ​forecast on Wednesday, betting on growing demand from clients for its quantum computing platform.

The shares of the ‌company, however, fell around 6% in extended trading.

"IONQ had ⁠high expectations going into the print today, especially given the run the ‌stock has had in ‌the past month. Think we are also seeing some skepticism play out, which has lingered over the past few ​quarters as to the viability of the technology and the path that IONQ has taken with trapped ion qubits," ⁠said D.A. Davidson analyst Alex Platt.

Shares have risen about 17% this year.

IonQ develops trapped-ion ​quantum computing systems and related networking, sensing and security technologies, offering cloud-based access to its hardware that ​attempts to solve complex computational ‌problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

Trapped-ion technology uses charged atomic particles manipulated by lasers and ⁠electromagnetic fields within a vacuum.

"Profitability is not a key focus this year. We are focused on growing revenue and growing R&D investments ⁠to support that revenue growth," CEO Niccolo de Masi told Reuters.

Challenges remain ​for quantum computing, the biggest being that qubit, a fundamental building block similar to a bit in classical computing, is incredibly fast, but also ‌extremely difficult to control and prone to errors.

IonQ now expects annual revenue between $260 million and $270 ‌million, compared with its prior expectations of $225 million to $245 million.

The company ⁠reported first-quarter revenue of $64.7 ‌million, beating analysts' average ​estimate of $49.7 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal ‌Muhammed)

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