In the most recent quarter both companies have reported in matched form, Q2 2026, IonQ’s revenue grew 287% year over year to $80.1 million, while BigBear.ai’s grew 13% to $36.7 million. IonQ’s growth rate was far higher. The two companies are much closer in revenue size than the growth rates suggest, and the comparison has two caveats that change how the numbers should be read: BigBear.ai’s growth was partly attributed to an acquisition, and IonQ’s current revenue outlook excludes its own acquisition, SkyWater.
The Q2 2026 numbers side by side
The table below uses each company’s own Q2 2026 reporting. Both are quarterly, in U.S. dollars, and compared against Q2 2025.
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| Metric (Q2 2026) | BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) | IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $36.7 million | $80.1 million |
| Prior-year Q2 revenue | $32.5 million (Q2 2025) | Not stated; implied at roughly $20.7 million by the reported 287% growth rate (our arithmetic, not a company figure) |
| Year-over-year revenue growth | 13% | 287% |
| Gross margin | 32.8% (25.0% in Q2 2025) | Not stated in the Q2 2026 results summarized here |
| GAAP net loss | $25.7 million | Not stated in the Q2 2026 results summarized here |
| Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss | $11.6 million | Not stated in the Q2 2026 results summarized here |
| Acquisition effect on reported growth | Partly attributed by the company to Ask Sage’s GenAI platforms and products | Growth attributed by the company to deployments across its quantum platform; whether Q2 revenue included any SkyWater contribution is not established in the company’s summary |
IonQ’s 287% figure is applied to a much smaller base. In dollar terms, IonQ added roughly $60 million of quarterly revenue year over year, while BigBear.ai added about $4.2 million. Percentages and dollar increases tell different stories, and both are worth keeping in view.
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BigBear.ai: software and services, with an acquired product line
BigBear.ai completed the acquisition of Ask Sage on December 31, 2025, according to its FY 2025 Form 10-K. Its Q2 2026 earnings release (July 30, 2026) attributes part of the year-over-year increase to revenue from Ask Sage’s GenAI platforms and products. The release, as reported, does not separate the 13% into acquired and existing-business portions, so the organic rate for Q2 2026 cannot be calculated from the company’s own disclosures.
#1 Best Overall
IonQ: a quantum platform, with a pending-scale acquisition excluded from outlook
IonQ reported Q2 2026 revenue of $80.1 million and attributed the increase to deployments across its quantum platform. Its Q2 2026 release also reports that the SkyWater Technology acquisition closed in 2026, and that IonQ’s FY 2026 revenue outlook excludes SkyWater’s contribution. The release does not, in the summary available here, state how much (if any) SkyWater added to Q2 revenue, so the 287% figure should not be assumed to be entirely organic.
IonQ’s most recent full-year organic disclosure is for FY 2025: the company said nearly 80% of that year’s growth was organic. That figure covers a different period and should not be applied to Q2 2026.
Rank #2
Full-year 2025: nearly equal revenue, very different growth
| Metric (FY 2025) | BigBear.ai | IonQ |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $128 million | $130.0 million |
| Year-over-year growth | Not stated in the annual results summarized here | 202% |
| Organic share of growth | Not stated; Ask Sage was acquired December 31, 2025, so it contributed to FY 2025 only for the final day | Nearly 80% of growth was organic, per the company |
| Source and date | Annual results release, March 2, 2026 | Q4 and FY 2025 results, February 25, 2026 |
IonQ’s FY 2025 revenue exceeded BigBear.ai’s by $2.0 million. That gap is small relative to the difference in growth. IonQ’s Q4 2025 revenue was $61.9 million, which the company reported in the same release.
Guidance: what each company expects, and how it has moved
| FY 2026 outlook | Range | Midpoint and implied change | Scope notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BigBear.ai, initial (March 2, 2026) | $135 million to $165 million | $150 million; about 17% above FY 2025 revenue of $128 million | Software and services, including Ask Sage |
| BigBear.ai, affirmed (Q2 2026 release, July 30, 2026) | $135 million to $165 million | Unchanged | The company’s CEO said in that release: “we’re on track for our target of 17% revenue growth” |
| IonQ, original (FY 2025 release, February 25, 2026) | $225 million to $245 million | $235 million; about 81% above FY 2025 revenue of $130.0 million | Original outlook |
| IonQ, raised (Q2 2026 release, August 2026) | $280 million to $290 million | $285 million; about 21% above the original $235 million midpoint | Excludes SkyWater contribution |
The CEO quote is management’s characterization of its own target, not a verified result. IonQ has a record of beating its own guidance: in its FY 2025 release, Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi said the company had “significantly outperformed our revenue guidance range, exceeding the midpoint by 55% for the fourth quarter and 20% for the full year.” Past beats do not guarantee future results, and IonQ’s raised range is a forecast, not reported revenue.
Because the two companies’ FY 2026 ranges are on different scope bases, they should not be compared line by line. BigBear.ai’s range includes Ask Sage. IonQ’s range excludes SkyWater.
Margins and losses: different measures, different questions
BigBear.ai’s Q2 2026 gross margin rose to 32.8% from 25.0% a year earlier. Its GAAP net loss was $25.7 million, and its non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss was $11.6 million. These are separate measures. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP figure that excludes items the company chooses to adjust for, and it should not be described as GAAP profit or as a substitute for net loss.
BigBear.ai’s net loss narrowed sharply from Q2 2025, but the company said the prior-year quarter included large non-cash derivative fair-value losses and a goodwill impairment. The smaller net loss therefore does not on its own show that operations improved. IonQ’s Q2 2026 gross margin and loss figures are not stated in the results summarized here, so no margin or loss comparison between the two is possible from these sources.
Why the businesses make the comparison uneven
BigBear.ai describes itself as providing Edge AI-powered decision-intelligence solutions and services. Its FY 2025 Form 10-K lists data ingestion, enrichment, processing, machine learning, predictive analytics and predictive visualization among its offerings, names national security, supply chain management and digital identity as focus areas, and states that revenue comes from both software and services.
Best Value
IonQ describes itself as a quantum computing platform company, and its revenue reflects deployments of that platform. The two companies sell to overlapping government and enterprise buyers in some cases, but their products, sales cycles and revenue timing are not directly interchangeable. A high growth rate in one does not indicate a parallel trend in the other.
How to read the comparison
- Match periods. Compare Q2 with Q2 and fiscal years with fiscal years. Q2 2026 is the latest quarter both companies have reported in matched form.
- Check the acquisition effect. BigBear.ai’s growth includes Ask Sage in part; IonQ’s outlook excludes SkyWater, and its quarterly contribution is not broken out in the summary.
- Keep GAAP and non-GAAP separate. Adjusted EBITDA loss and GAAP net loss answer different questions and should not be mixed.
- Date every forecast. BigBear.ai’s $135 million to $165 million range dates from March 2, 2026 and was affirmed July 30, 2026. IonQ’s $280 million to $290 million range is the August 2026 update; its $225 million to $245 million range is superseded.
- Weigh growth against base size. A 287% increase from roughly $20.7 million and a 13% increase from $32.5 million are both reported facts, but they describe different scales of change.
What these figures do not settle
- Cash generation and balance sheet strength. Neither company’s revenue figures show how much cash each consumes or holds.
- Valuation and share-price behaviour. Revenue trends do not indicate what either stock is worth or how it will move.
- Delivery against guidance. Both companies’ FY 2026 ranges are forecasts. Their next quarterly results will show whether the trends above continue.
No third-party industry survey or market-share data was used in these comparisons; the figures are company-reported results and company guidance.
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