What Happened?

A number of stocks traded in opposite directions in the afternoon session after geopolitical tensions between the United States and the European Union escalated, sparking fears of a renewed trade war. 

The broader markets adopted a "risk-off" mode, with investors seeking safe-haven assets amidst the uncertainty. The market's primary fear gauge, the VIX, jumped to a fresh eight-week high, signaling rising investor anxiety. The dispute, centered on Greenland, raised the possibility of a revived trade conflict, which could disrupt global supply chains and economic activity. Mega-cap technology stocks, many of which have significant international sales and operations, were particularly affected by the souring risk sentiment as a potential trade war threatens their global business models.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• IT Services & Consulting company Grid Dynamics (NASDAQ: GDYN) fell 1.9%. Is now the time to buy Grid Dynamics? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Specialized Technology company Mirion (NYSE: MIR) fell 0.4%. Is now the time to buy Mirion? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Data & Business Process Services company Planet Labs (NYSE: PL) fell 0.1%. Is now the time to buy Planet Labs? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Hardware & Infrastructure company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) jumped 5.7%. Is now the time to buy IonQ? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Terrestrial Telecommunication Services company Lumen (NYSE: LUMN) fell 5.1%. Is now the time to buy Lumen? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On IonQ (IONQ)

IonQ’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 87 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 29 days ago when the stock gained 12.2% on the news that several Wall Street firms initiated coverage on the company with positive ratings. 

Notably, Jefferies started its coverage with a "Buy" rating and set a price target of $100, highlighting the company's technological edge. This suggested significant potential upside. Adding to the bullish sentiment, analysts at Wedbush and Mizuho also began covering the stock with "Outperform" ratings. They set ambitious price targets of $60 and $90, respectively. This wave of positive assessments from multiple financial analysts, all pointing to IonQ's advanced quantum computing capabilities, appeared to fuel strong investor optimism.

IonQ is up 12.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $52.65 per share, it is still trading 35.9% below its 52-week high of $82.09 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of IonQ’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,651.

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