IonQ Inc. ( IONQ ) shares are under pressure Friday morning. Nasdaq futures are up 0.20% while S&P 500 futures have gained 0.26%.

After skyrocketing more than 50% this week, the stock is seeing natural profit-taking from investors.

No specific company event triggered the slide, but recent data shows a climb in bearish bets.

Short interest in the quantum firm rose from 79.48 million to 80.93 million shares during the last reporting period. This currently places 22.78% of the company’s float in short positions.

Sector Momentum and Nvidia Catalyst

The dip comes despite a massive week for the industry. Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA ) recently launched its “Ising” family of AI models, which acted as a sector-wide catalyst.

S&P Global analysts noted that “2025 ignited interest. 2026 is triggering change,” as market revenue is projected to hit $9 billion this year.

Earlier this week, IonQ ( IONQ ) also surged after winning a contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) HARQ program.

Technical Analysis

IonQ ( IONQ ) is sitting in the middle of its 52-week range of $23.48 to $84.64 high. The stock is trading 38.1% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 6.9% above its 100-day SMA.

The relative strength index (RSI), a momentum gauge, is 74.41.

The 50-day SMA crossed below the 200-day SMA in February (a "death cross"), and the stock is still 6.7% below its 200-day SMA.

Key Resistance: $44

Key Support: $38

IONQ Stock Price Activity: IonQ ( IONQ ) shares were down 2.75% at $43.45 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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