Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) vs. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Critical Analysis

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

IonQ has a beta of 2.59, meaning that its share price is 159% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Micron Technology has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares IonQ and Micron Technology”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IonQ	$43.07 million	438.74	-$331.65 million	($5.35)	-10.17
Micron Technology	$37.38 billion	7.24	$8.54 billion	$7.59	31.77

Micron Technology has higher revenue and earnings than IonQ. IonQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Micron Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.4% of IonQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Micron Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of IonQ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Micron Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for IonQ and Micron Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IonQ	1	6	7	0	2.43
Micron Technology	0	4	26	5	3.03

IonQ currently has a consensus price target of $68.11, suggesting a potential upside of 25.23%. Micron Technology has a consensus price target of $205.64, suggesting a potential downside of 14.71%. Given IonQ’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe IonQ is more favorable than Micron Technology.

Profitability

This table compares IonQ and Micron Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IonQ	-1,836.32%	-127.06%	-83.48%
Micron Technology	22.84%	17.21%	11.28%

Summary

Micron Technology beats IonQ on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc. engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems in the United States. It sells access to quantum computers of various qubit capacities. The company makes access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Braket, Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, and Google’s Cloud Marketplace, as well as through its cloud service. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in College Park, Maryland.

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels. The company offers memory products for the cloud server, enterprise, client, graphics, networking, industrial, and automotive markets, as well as for smartphone and other mobile-device markets; SSDs and component-level solutions for the enterprise and cloud, client, and consumer storage markets; discrete storage products in component and wafers; and memory and storage products for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. It markets its products through its direct sales force, independent sales representatives, distributors, and retailers; and web-based customer direct sales channel, as well as through channel and distribution partners. Micron Technology, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.