Quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) represent tremendous opportunities for consumers and investors alike.
IonQ is in its early growth stages, but has recently made some stunning breakthroughs.
Amazon continues to derive growth from its flagship businesses, and its investments in AI are ushering in a new era of gains.
10 stocks we like better than IonQ ›
As investors near the end of 2026 and look ahead to 2026, some use this time to make resolutions about their finances and portfolios. If you have cash to invest in the stock market, money that you don’t need for near-term obligations like bills, there are plenty of quality stocks vying for your attention that offer the opportunity to invest.
When investing for the long term, you should be focused on quality businesses that you would feel comfortable buying and holding stock in for at least three to five years, if not longer. If you’re looking for top growth stocks to buy that could easily see a run-up in 2026 and well beyond, here are two names to consider.
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IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) is a pure-play quantum computing company. If you’re not familiar with this one, the company builds quantum computers using a unique trapped-ion technology, which uses individual ions (charged atoms) manipulated by lasers to perform computations. This method offers high accuracy and can operate at room temperature, which distinguishes IonQ from its quantum computing competitors, who often use expensive, cryogenically cooled superconducting systems.
IonQ makes its quantum computers available through third-party cloud platforms, including Amazon‘s (NASDAQ: AMZN) AWS Amazon Braket, Microsoft‘s Azure Quantum, and Alphabet‘s Google Cloud. A significant portion of IonQ’s resources are dedicated to R&D to improve the performance, accuracy, and scalability of its quantum systems. Through strategic acquisitions, IonQ is expanding into quantum networking, security, and sensing applications as it works to achieve its goal of building a full-stack quantum platform.
IonQ’s revenue streams are centered on making its quantum power accessible and applicable to real-world problems. Its primary revenue source is selling access to its quantum computing power on a per-use or subscription basis through cloud partnerships and its own cloud service. IonQ also earns revenue from selling specialized quantum computing hardware systems to select customers like government labs and research institutions, along with associated maintenance and support services.
The company has also secured contracts with various entities (e.g., the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and AstraZeneca) for research collaborations, technology development partnerships, and consulting services to co-develop algorithms for specific applications like materials science or drug discovery.
IonQ exceeded its revenue guidance in Q3 2025, driven partly by recent strategic acquisitions like Oxford Ionics and Capella Space, and delivered $39.9 million on the top line. That was a 222% increase year over year. Despite operating at a loss, IonQ ended the quarter with a robust cash and investment position of $1.5 billion.
Perhaps the most standout development from the quarter was the fact that IonQ achieved an Algorithmic Qubit score of #AQ 64 on its fifth-generation IonQ Tempo system, three months ahead of its original year-end schedule. #AQ is a benchmark that measures a quantum computer’s ability to run practical algorithms. Reaching #AQ 64 means the system can simultaneously evaluate over 18 quintillion possibilities.
But what does this mean for practical, real-world applications? Well, for one thing, achieving #AQ 64 means IonQ’s quantum computers can tackle problems classical supercomputers can’t. This includes real-world improvements in areas like drug development and discovery, financial modeling, logistics/supply chain optimization, and so much more.
Quantum computing is a disruptive technology that could unlock trillions in economic value. This is a market expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 30% or more through 2035. IonQ’s recent breakthrough in quantum networking could also expand its long-term addressable market. For risk-tolerant investors, this growth stock could be a compelling buy for the next decade and beyond.
Amazon remains a powerhouse in e-commerce, cloud computing, and other core growth areas that continue to make this business a compelling business to buy and hold. The company’s total revenue for 2024 was over $638 billion, and its net income nearly doubled from $30.4 billion in 2023 to $59.2 billion in 2024. The company is aggressively investing in infrastructure, especially for artificial intelligence applications, and Amazon plans to double its data center power capacity by 2027.
AWS is the company’s most profitable business and a primary driver of overall growth. AWS revenue in Q3 2025 grew 20% year over year to $33 billion, and delivered an annualized run rate of $132 billion. Strong demand for AI-related services is a key growth catalyst that’s leading to a substantial infrastructure backlog.
Advertising services is emerging as a high-margin, fast-growing segment for Amazon, as advertising generated almost $18 billion in revenue in the third quarter alone, a 22% increase from the prior year. The introduction of ads on Prime Video and expansion into connected TV present significant future opportunities for Amazon to grow its foothold in the lucrative advertising space.
Of course, there’s still the core online retail business that continues to demonstrate solid revenue growth. In Q3 2025, revenue from online stores totaled about $67.4 billion, and third-party seller services brought in $42.5 billion. Those two segments realized growth of 8% and 11%, respectively, from the year-ago period.
The Prime subscription service bundles fast shipping and digital content, and creates a powerful customer loyalty network that reinforces Amazon’s entire retail ecosystem, as well as its entertainment segment.
Additionally, Amazon is integrating AI across virtually every facet of its business, from physical warehouse robots to the digital shopping experience, as management aims to capitalize on operational efficiency and high-margin service growth.
For example, Amazon’s generative AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus is fully integrated into the mobile e-commerce app and allows customers to discover products through natural language conversations. Amazon is using AI to customize search results, product descriptions, and even web store sessions for individual shoppers based on their intent and behavior. Increasingly effective agentic capabilities allow its fulfillment center robots like Proteus and Vulcan to understand natural language commands and act autonomously to handle complex tasks.
Amazon is developing its own AI chips, Trainium3 and Inferentia, to lower costs for training and deploying AI models compared to traditional GPUs. And AWS’s Amazon Bedrock service allows businesses to build their own AI applications using a choice of foundational models, including Amazon’s new Nova family.
Bear in mind that we’re still in the relatively early stages of the growth potential that AI is expected to unleash, and Amazon stands to be a direct beneficiary of that trajectory. Long-term investors would do well to start or add to a position in this dynamic growth stock.
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Rachel Warren has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, AstraZeneca Plc, IonQ, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
2 Unbelievable Growth Stocks to Buy Before They Soar in 2026 was originally published by The Motley Fool
