IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ) is participating in the 2026 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, known as QCE26, currently underway at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.

The conference serves as the premier international flagship event for quantum computing and engineering, drawing researchers and industry participants from around the world.

IonQ presented nine peer-reviewed research papers at the event and is scheduled to participate in six additional events throughout the IEEE Quantum program this week.

The accepted papers span several research disciplines, including clinical data imputation, protein folding, industrial fluid dynamics, and freight logistics.

Four of IonQ’s submitted papers earned QCE26 Best Paper Awards, selected from a pool of 857 research submissions worldwide, with only 27 papers receiving Best Paper recognition in total.

Taking first place in the Quantum Applications Track, “Quantum Fine-Tuning for AI,” co-authored with Quantum Basel, evaluated how quantum systems can fine-tune foundational AI models more accurately while reducing energy use.

Also claiming first place, this time in the Quantum End-to-End Hybrid Case Studies Track, “Quantum-Accelerated Linear Algebra” was developed with Synopsys to demonstrate performance gains for large-scale engineering and modeling workflows.

IonQ collaborated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NVIDIA on “AI-Accelerated Distributed Optimization,” which placed third in the Quantum-GenAI Co-Design and Co-Discovery Track, introducing a framework called “DQAOA-GPT” that combines generative AI with distributed quantum algorithms.

The fourth recognized paper, “64-Qubit Protein Folding,” developed with Kipu Quantum, placed third in the Quantum End-to-End Hybrid Case Studies Track and covers protein folding simulations on a 64-qubit trapped-ion processor using counterdiabatic optimization to improve speed and accuracy in drug discovery.

Despite the recognition at QCE26, IonQ shares have declined 43.4% over the past year, sharply underperforming the broader industry’s 174.3% surge over the same period.

The stock currently trades at a forward sales multiple of 20.56, compared to the industry average of 4.57, suggesting the market is pricing in significant future growth relative to peers.

IONQ currently carries a Zacks Rank of 4, categorized as a Sell, reflecting cautious near-term sentiment around the stock despite its strong research output.

Elsewhere in the quantum sector, D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) recently executed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce providing access to up to $100 million in U.S. CHIPS and Science Act funding to accelerate development of its annealing and gate-model quantum systems.

The D-Wave funding is expected to support the development of a next-generation 100,000-qubit annealing system targeting performance improvements across optimization, materials simulation, blockchain, and artificial intelligence applications.

Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ: QUBT) has signed a three-year Framework Agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar to collaborate across quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum communications, with QCi providing on-cloud Dirac-3 system access to support the regional quantum ecosystem.