Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Given “Sector Perform” Rating at Scotiabank

Scotiabank reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $100.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $300.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on DUOL. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Duolingo from $425.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Duolingo from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Duolingo to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.26.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of Duolingo stock traded down $16.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $101.00. 20,096,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,830,754. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $91.99 and a fifty-two week high of $544.93. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $282.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 40.03% and a return on equity of 14.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duolingo will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,526.70. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total value of $110,060.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 122,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,497,318.16. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 in the last ninety days. 15.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,868.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 123.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 48,451 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Duolingo by 28.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at about $865,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Duolingo during the second quarter worth about $437,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

More Duolingo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates — revenue and EPS topped expectations and the company reported strong margin metrics. Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: User scale: Duolingo closed 2025 with >50M daily active users and topped $1B in bookings — evidence of continued product adoption. Shareholder Letter
• Positive Sentiment: Strong full-year profitability: reports note roughly $400M profit for 2025, underlining unit economics at scale. Profit Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is explicitly shifting to prioritize user growth over near-term monetization, saying bookings and revenue growth will slow as they aim for 100M DAUs by 2028. Reuters Strategy Piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Management set explicit DAU growth targets and framed short-term profitability trade-offs as part of a longer-term expansion plan. Seeking Alpha
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance disappointment: FY‑2026 and Q1 2026 revenue/bookings guidance came in below Street expectations, triggering sharp intraday selling. Guidance/Miss Report
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and price-target cuts accelerated the sell-off (multiple firms cut targets and/or ratings after the call). Analyst Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/litigation risk: investor law firms have launched probes into DUOL, increasing uncertainty and potential legal overhang. Investigation Alert
• Negative Sentiment: High-volume selling and negative press amplified moves — multiple outlets flagged a steep intraday decline and described investor concern over the strategy shift. Barron’s

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a technology-driven education company that operates a widely used language-learning platform. Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo offers a freemium service featuring bite-sized lessons, gamified exercises and adaptive learning algorithms. The company’s core product is its mobile and web application, which supports instruction in more than 40 languages, ranging from widely spoken tongues such as English and Spanish to lesser-taught options including Irish and Swahili.

In addition to its flagship language courses, Duolingo has expanded its product suite to include the Duolingo English Test, an on-demand, computer-based English proficiency exam designed for academic and professional admissions.