Investors hunting for high-performance computing exposure in 2026 face a compelling choice between Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ: CBRS) and IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), two companies redefining processing power.
Cerebras focuses on massive wafer-scale chips built to accelerate AI training and inference workloads across enterprise, government, and high-performance computing markets globally.
IonQ takes a fundamentally different approach, building trapped-ion quantum computing systems delivered primarily as a service through major cloud platforms including Amazon and Microsoft.
Comparing these two companies means weighing the current AI hardware boom directly against the longer-term and potentially transformative promise of quantum computing technology.
Cerebras posted revenue of nearly $510 million in 2025, representing approximately 75.7% growth over the prior year, driven by demand for its CS-3 platform powered by the WSE-3 chip.
Despite reporting close to $238 million in net income in 2025, further investment in scaling its technology has pushed the company back into losses through 2026.
Cerebras carries a debt-to-equity ratio of nearly 0.1x and a current ratio of approximately 5.8x, but trailing-12-month free cash flow through Q2 2026 stood at negative $680 million.
IonQ delivered even more explosive revenue growth in 2025, with revenue rising nearly 202% to reach approximately $130 million, fueled by cloud-based quantum computing service adoption.
The company recently delivered quantum systems to the Korea Institute of Science, reporting its fifth straight quarter of record financial results and 287% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 2026.
IonQ carries no debt, reflected in a 0.0x debt-to-equity ratio, and holds a current ratio of roughly 10.7x, signaling a strong near-term financial position despite heavy cash burn.
Trailing-12-month free cash flow for IonQ through Q2 2026 was negative $484 million, as the business continues investing aggressively to scale its quantum computing operations.
IonQ does face real risks, including operating losses that have widened to over $1.3 billion on a trailing basis through Q2 2026, along with the challenge of integrating acquired businesses like SkyWater and Vector Atomic.
A recent partnership with CMC Microsystems aims to embed IonQ’s quantum technology more deeply into research and industrial applications, broadening its commercial footprint beyond cloud services.
Cerebras faces its own competitive pressures, contending with established chip giants in the AI hardware market where manufacturing disruptions could significantly delay product delivery.
On valuation, Cerebras trades at a forward P/E of 148.1x and a price-to-sales ratio of 81.6x, compared to IonQ’s price-to-sales ratio of 110.5x, with no forward P/E calculable given ongoing losses.
Both companies are burning cash and scaling aggressively, but IonQ’s faster revenue trajectory and cleaner balance sheet give it a meaningful edge in the current environment.
With revenue growing significantly faster at a similarly small revenue base, IonQ appears better positioned to capitalize on what could be a massive long-term quantum computing market opportunity.
