Duolingo Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
There is little to argue about on substance: no debt, $1,138.6 million in cash plus $253.3 million in investments as of March 31, 2026, a 67.6 percent equity ratio, a 72.2 percent gross margin and three straight years of rising cash flow. Two operating questions are open, and both are documented. First, quality of earnings: $256.7 million of the $414.1 million profit in 2025 was a one-time tax entry, and income from operations was 13.1 percent of revenue. Second, momentum: bookings up 13.6 percent against revenue up 26.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026, and monthly active users up only 5.8 percent. This is not an existential question — a debt-free company with a billion in cash and positive cash flow does not fail over it. But it is more than a formality. Hence yellow: substance documented, continuation unproven. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Duolingo is an unusually good product in an unusually unsettled moment. The business works: $1,037.6 million in 2025 revenue, $360.4 million of free cash flow, $1,138.6 million in cash, zero debt and 56.5 million people who come back voluntarily every day. Against that stand a profit that came almost two thirds from a one-time tax entry, a leading indicator growing at half the pace of revenue, and 85 percent of the money running through somebody else's till. Buying here does not buy the 2025 profit; it buys the question of whether habit still converts into revenue once every chatbot speaks Spanish. Not investment advice.
Business and reach
Revenue climbed from $531.1 million in 2023 through $748.0 million in 2024 to $1,037.6 million in 2025 — close to a doubling in two years, with no acquisition. The first quarter of 2026 added another 26.5 percent. 137.8 million people open the app each month, 56.5 million every day; roughly 15 million of them hold a learning streak of more than a year. That habit is the real moat.
Balance sheet and funding
As of March 31, 2026 the company held $1,138.6 million in cash and $253.3 million in investments — and not a single line of debt. The only long-term obligation is $91.9 million of operating leases. Equity funded 67.6 percent of the balance sheet, and free cash flow reached $360.4 million in 2025. This company needs nobody to lend it money.
Quality of earnings
Of the $414.1 million in 2025 net income, $256.7 million came from the one-time release of a tax valuation allowance in the third quarter of 2025. Pre-tax income was $182.4 million — 17.6 percent of the $1,037.6 million in revenue. The operating margin was 13.1 percent in 2025. Anyone computing a P/E of roughly 14 on reported earnings is computing with an item that happened once.
Growth momentum
The leading indicator is cooling. In the first quarter of 2026 total bookings rose only 13.6 percent to $308.5 million while reported revenue rose 26.5 percent. Monthly active users grew just 5.8 percent, to 137.8 million from 130.2 million. The installed base is being monetized more deeply — the top of the funnel is drying up.
Dependencies
Apple processed 61.6 percent of 2025 revenue, Google 23.4 percent and Stripe 10.3 percent. So 85 percent of the money runs through two app stores whose operators set the commission, the rules and the visibility — and who are building AI assistants with language features themselves. Add the voting structure: 76.3 percent of the voting power sat with directors, officers and 5 percent stockholders as of December 31, 2025.
Valuation
At a market capitalization of roughly $5.7 billion (data as of July 24, 2026), reported 2025 earnings give a price-to-earnings ratio of about 14 — excluding the tax benefit it is about 36. Free cash flow of $360.4 million implies 15.8 times; deduct the $137.4 million of stock-based compensation and it is 25.5 times. The mean analyst price target of $113.24 sits below the implied share price of roughly $122.
Worth Noting
Duolingo reached our research list through our in-house stock scanner: the stock sits in the U.S. selection of the list Fundamental Rank (A / A+), which sorts companies by the quality of their numbers (as of July 26, 2026; 38 U.S. names meet the criteria and the page shows the first 25). On the same date DUOL appeared in 16 lists at once, among them Buffett criteria, Peter Lynch PEG below 1, quality stocks and high revenue growth. The lists are recalculated daily.
Recency: this analysis is based on the annual report 10-K for 2025 (filed February 27, 2026), the quarterly report 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 (filed May 5, 2026) and the annual report 10-K for 2024 (filed February 28, 2025). Every filing submitted afterwards was reviewed — the 8-K of June 5, 2026 (annual meeting results), the SCHEDULE 13G/A filings of May 6 and May 14, 2026, and Forms 4 through July 14, 2026. None of them changes the picture; the next quarterly report is expected in early August 2026.
One trap in the metrics: some data providers list only the 40,237,065 Class A shares as outstanding. In fact 6,356,052 Class B shares come on top (cover page of the quarterly report, as of May 1, 2026), for 46,593,117 in total. The market capitalization of roughly $5.7 billion quoted here (data as of July 24, 2026) uses the full share count; the cross-check of 46,593,117 shares times the implied price of $122.24 confirms it. Analyses are evergreen; a daily price is not a reason to buy.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at DUOL since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 90.00 $ to 347.30 $ · Last price: 147.10 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Software - Application
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duolingo Inc DUOL | 6.6 | 17.3 | 34.6 | 72.7 | 15.4 | 38.7 | -47.3 |
| Salesforce.com Inc CRM | 194.7 | 24.2 | 14.3 | 77.3 | 21.8 | 9.6 | 1.1 |
| Uber Technologies Inc UBER | 144.3 | 18.9 | 19.7 | 40.8 | 14.6 | 18.3 | -23.8 |
| ServiceNow Inc NOW | 138.5 | 82.3 | 40.2 | 74.8 | 13.3 | 20.9 | -27.2 |
| Snowflake Inc. SNOW | 115.4 | – | -76.6 | 67.0 | -22.2 | 29.2 | 55.3 |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc ADP | 108.8 | 25.1 | 16.4 | 48.7 | 30.2 | 7.1 | -3.0 |
| Adobe Systems Incorporated ADBE | 99.2 | 14.3 | 9.8 | 89.3 | 35.3 | 10.5 | -30.2 |
| Intuit Inc INTU | 86.0 | 20.0 | 12.2 | 81.0 | 47.0 | 15.6 | -52.2 |
| Datadog Inc DDOG | 84.3 | 631.8 | 268.8 | 79.5 | 0.8 | 27.7 | 75.8 |
| Median of companies shown | 108.8 | 22.1 | 16.4 | 74.8 | 15.4 | 18.3 | -23.8 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 71 | -13 | -14 | -0.38 | 2 | 54 | 95 |
| 2020 | 162 | -16 | -16 | -0.44 | 18 | 102 | 176 |
| 2021 | 251 | 60 | -60 | -1.57 | 9 | 513 | 661 |
| 2022 | 370 | -65 | -60 | -1.51 | 54 | 542 | 747 |
| 2023 | 531 | -13 | 16 | 0.35 | 154 | 656 | 954 |
| 2024 | 748 | 64 | 89 | 1.88 | 286 | 825 | 1,302 |
| 2025 | 1,038 | 141 | 414 | 8.57 | 388 | 1,347 | 1,992 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.28 | 13.60 | 210 | 38.80 | 6.60 | 83 | 81 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.72 | 27.30 | 231 | 37.70 | 15.20 | 106 | 104 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.91 | 79.30 | 252 | 41.50 | 17.80 | 91 | 90 |
| 2025: Q3 | 5.95 | 1,120.90 | 272 | 41.10 | 107.50 | 84 | 79 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.84 | 199.90 | 283 | 35.00 | 14.80 | 107 | 97 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.89 | 22.50 | 292 | 26.50 | 14.90 | 151 | 151 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.66 | -27.50 | 299 | 18.30 | 11.10 | 88 | 81 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 16 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Backtested Scanners
Quality & Balance Sheet
Aktien.Guide
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
Research
Risk & Weakness
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 6.61 | 6.44 – 6.93 | 1,207 | -43.8% | 7 |
| 12/31/2027 | 7.64 | 7.14 – 7.92 | 1,368 | 15.5% | 7 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 4.8% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $405.2M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $6.57B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $650.3M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 52.2% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 91.6% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
KI ist bei Duolingo unmittelbare Umsatzquelle: Die höher bepreiste Abostufe Duolingo Max wird im Geschäftsbericht ausdrücklich über KI-gestützte Funktionen definiert, und der als KI-gesteuert beschriebene Duolingo English Test brachte 2025 rund 4,0 Prozent des Gesamtumsatzes.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Duolingo Max is a premium subscription tier launched in 2023 and offered to a portion of our user base and priced higher than Super Duolingo. It gives learners access to the existing features of Super Duolingo in addition to incremental features and exercises powered by AI technology."
Duolingo Max ist eine 2023 eingeführte Premium-Abostufe, die einem Teil unserer Nutzerbasis angeboten wird und höher bepreist ist als Super Duolingo. Sie gibt Lernenden Zugang zu den bestehenden Funktionen von Super Duolingo sowie zu zusätzlichen Funktionen und Übungen, die von KI-Technologie angetrieben werden.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„The success of the Duolingo English Test, from which we derived approximately 4.0% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025, depends in part upon the continued recognition and acceptance by schools, governments, and other institutions of technology-based assessment, and the continued utilization of assessment in general."
Der Erfolg des Duolingo English Test, aus dem wir im Geschäftsjahr zum 31. Dezember 2025 rund 4,0 Prozent unseres Gesamtumsatzes erzielten, hängt zum Teil davon ab, dass Schulen, Regierungen und andere Institutionen technologiegestützte Prüfungen weiterhin anerkennen und akzeptieren und dass Prüfungen allgemein weiterhin genutzt werden.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„AI plays an increasingly important role in how we provide effective learning experiences and generate content at scale. For example, Roleplay, Explain My Answer, and Video Call are all AI-powered learning features."
KI spielt eine immer wichtigere Rolle dabei, wie wir wirksame Lernerfahrungen bereitstellen und Inhalte in großem Maßstab erzeugen. Roleplay, Explain My Answer und Video Call sind zum Beispiel allesamt KI-gestützte Lernfunktionen.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„Our development, implementation and use of AI and machine learning technologies, including third-party technologies, may not be successful, which may impair our ability to compete effectively, result in reputational harm and have an adverse effect on our business."
Unsere Entwicklung, Umsetzung und Nutzung von KI- und Maschinenlern-Technologien, einschließlich Technologien Dritter, ist möglicherweise nicht erfolgreich, was unsere Fähigkeit zum wirksamen Wettbewerb beeinträchtigen, zu Reputationsschäden führen und sich nachteilig auf unser Geschäft auswirken kann.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-27 · 10-K 2025-02-28 · 10-Q 2026-05-05 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-05-02
Rated on July 26, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 41.1%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 13.9%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 7.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 74.3%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 71.7%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 1.8%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 1,047 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 308 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 9.8%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.5%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
4/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 56.4%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 14.8%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -5.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -7.4x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 3
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 32.3%
- ROCE > 15% 9.8%
- Expected return > 10% -0.3%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | Chen Stephen C. | General Counsel | Sell | 5,965 | 150.00 | 894,750 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Chen Stephen C. | General Counsel | Sell | 2,107 | 147.43 | 310,635 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 100 | 151.64 | 15,164 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 200 | 148.68 | 29,735 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 2,675 | 146.58 | 392,114 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 3,483 | 145.91 | 508,198 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 2,742 | 144.59 | 396,458 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Gordon William B | Director | Sell | 800 | 143.83 | 115,068 |
| Aug 18, 2026 | Glance Natalie | Chief Engineering Officer | Sell | 1,037 | 138.19 | 143,300 |
| Aug 18, 2026 | Glance Natalie | Chief Engineering Officer | Sell | 502 | 137.01 | 68,779 |
The company
About the Company
Duolingo, Inc. betreibt eine mobile Lernplattform in den USA, dem Vereinigten Königreich und international.
- Employees
- 900
- Headquarters
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Address
- 5900 Penn Avenue, 15206 Pittsburgh, United States
- Phone
- 412 567 6602
- Website
- duolingo.com
- IPO Date
- 07/28/2021
- ISIN
- US26603R1068
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Luis Alfonso von Ahn Arellano Ph.D. | Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO | 1979 |
| Gillian Munson | Chief Financial Officer | 1971 |
| Stephen Chen | General Counsel | 1975 |
| Matthew Skaruppa | Advisor | 1982 |
| Robert Meese | Chief Business Officer | 1978 |
| Natalie Glance Ph.D. | Chief Engineering Officer | 1969 |
| Severin Benedict Hacker Ph.D. | Co-Founder, CTO & Director | 1986 |
| Deborah Belevan CPA | VP of Investor Relations | – |
| Sam Dalsimer | Global Head of Communications | – |
| Manu Orssaud | Chief Marketing Officer | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/19/2026 Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL): Regulation FD Disclosure SEC ↗
- 08/10/2026 Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/05/2026 Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.