Head-To-Head Survey: IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) & Parsons (NYSE:PSN)

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ – Get Rating) and Parsons (NYSE:PSN – Get Rating) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, earnings and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

IonQ has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Parsons has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares IonQ and Parsons’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IonQ	$2.10 million	446.29	-$106.19 million	($0.54)	-8.76
Parsons	$4.20 billion	1.02	$96.66 million	$0.88	46.47

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.2% of IonQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.6% of Parsons shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.1% of IonQ shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Parsons shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for IonQ and Parsons, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IonQ	0	1	2	0	2.67
Parsons	2	3	2	0	2.00

IonQ presently has a consensus target price of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 100.85%. Parsons has a consensus target price of $49.13, indicating a potential upside of 20.14%. Given IonQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe IonQ is more favorable than Parsons.

Profitability

This table compares IonQ and Parsons’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IonQ	-1,158.58%	-11.94%	-11.25%
Parsons	2.30%	8.47%	4.19%

Summary

Parsons beats IonQ on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IonQ

(Get Rating)

IonQ, Inc. engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems. It sells access to quantum computers with 20 qubits. 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. IonQ, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in College Park, Maryland.

About Parsons

(Get Rating)

Parsons Corp. engages in the provision of engineering, design, planning, and construction management services. It offers solutions for commercial, federal, transportation, and water resources. It delivers engineering, construction, systems and resource integration, project and program management, and environmental services to customers. It operates through the Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure segments. The Federal Solutions segment is involved in advanced technologies, including cybersecurity, missile defense systems, C5ISR, space launch and situational awareness, geospatial intelligence, RF signals intelligence, nuclear and chemical waste remediation, and engineering services. The Critical Infrastructure segment offers integrated design and engineering services for complex physical and digital infrastructure around the globe. The company was founded by Ralph Monroe Parsons on June 12, 1944 and is headquartered in Centreville, VA.