by Fred Fuld III
So what is quantum and why is it necessary?
Quantum computing uses subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons to perform calculations that would normally take millions of years.
Instead of a normal computer bit, which utilizes zeros and ones, the quantum computer qubit can be in multidimensional state, allowing for an enormous amount of additional transactions,
Quantum computing can be used in many areas, including artificial intelligence, analyzing big data, the security industry, finance, military, drug design, aerospace, and much more.
According to McKinsey & Co., “Quantum computing now has the potential to capture nearly $700 billion in value as early as 2035, with that market estimated to exceed $90 billion annually by 2040.”
There are really only a couple of pure play stocks in the quantum computing arena, and both of them are very low cap companies.
Arqit Quantum Inc. (ARQQ), based in London, England, has a system called QuantumCloud which creates unbreakable software encryption keys.
The company is actually generating a profit, trading at about five times trailing earnings.
In addition, the company is debt-free, and even has 71 cents in cash per share. That may not seem like a lot, but it is a substantial percentage of the stock price of $2.50 per share, where it closed last Friday.
The stock has an extremely low cap of $307 million.
IonQ Inc. (IONQ) is the other option. The company, based in College Park, Maryland, develops general purpose quantum computing systems.
It is currently generating negative earnings. However, it is debt free and has $2.01 in cash per share at a recent stock price of $5.50 per share.
The stock has a market cap of $1.1 billion.
Let’s see if either of these stocks make a quantum leap.
Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.