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Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL)

Technology High quality

Millions of people tap away at bite-sized language lessons on this colourful green-owl app every single day.

$143.68

Is Duolingo, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: High profit margins show strong underlying economics. Worth weighing: Relies heavily on smartphone app store gatekeepers.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-20.9%
= past earnings-report date
Priced in USD. As a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, even inside an ISA - a stronger pound can trim your £ gains and a weaker pound can add to them, whatever the share price itself does.
52-week range-60% past year
$143.68
Low $87.89High $371.63
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.

Is this normal for this company?

Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.

Price to earnings
12.5now
8.995.9

Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.

Net profit margin
11.1%now
11.1%107.5%

Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.

How these ranges are built

Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.

What does Duolingo, Inc. do?

Duolingo turns learning Spanish, French, or even High Valyrian into a daily game that hooks millions of users worldwide. It makes money primarily by charging people a monthly subscription to skip adverts and unlock extra perks, alongside charging for language proficiency tests. The key factor to keep an eye on is whether learners keep sticking around long enough to upgrade from the free version to the paid plans.

On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and value, and weakest on income.

Quick checks
What's strong
  • Quality screens high
What to watch
  • Income screens low

Does Duolingo, Inc. pay a dividend?

No - Duolingo, Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.

Does Duolingo, Inc. have more cash or more debt?

It holds about $1.31B in cash against about $86.14M of debt - so it has net cash of about $1.23B. More cash than debt is a cushion: it does not need to borrow just to cover what it owes.

From the latest reported balance sheet. Cash and debt levels change, and some borrowing is normal - this is context, not a judgment.

What do Duolingo, Inc.'s numbers mean?

P/E
16.01
This shows you are paying 15 pounds for every one pound of current annual profit the company makes.
Lower than most of the 109 Technology shares we cover
Gross margin
72.7%
For every pound brought in from subscriptions, nearly 73 pence is left over after covering the direct costs of running the platform.
Higher than most of the 131 Technology shares we cover
Revenue growth (yoy)
18.3%
Total money coming through the door grew by over a quarter compared to the same period last year.
Return on equity
34.4%
A strong measure of how efficiently management uses shareholder money to generate actual profits.
Around the middle of the 126 Technology shares we cover

How has it performed?

Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
If you had put $1,000 into Duolingo, Inc.
$791-21%

Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has Duolingo, Inc. actually fallen?

−83%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Duolingo, Inc. fell as much as −83% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.

Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

How has it done year by year?

2022-33%
2023+219%
2024+43%
2025-46%
2026 so far-23%

Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.

A closer look at the numbers

Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$6.34B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
1.37M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$141.53 – $146.27
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$87.89 – $371.63
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
16.0
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.88

Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?

One share costs$143.68
Number of shares44.1 million
So the whole company is worth$6.34bn
A £5 share is not cheaper than a £500 one - it means the company cut itself into more slices. Whether the total looks high or low is what the figures below are for; we don't give a verdict.
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.88
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -3% past week · ▼ -60% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

How much money does Duolingo, Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$74.61M$149.23M$223.84M$298.45MQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
72.7%
Net margin
35.9%
Return on equity
34.4%

Where does each £100 of Duolingo, Inc.'s sales go?

Making the product or service £27Running costs, tax and interest £37Left as profit £36

A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £27 covers making the product or service, £37 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £36 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.

When does Duolingo, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Duolingo, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-04 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.

Duolingo, Inc.: reported versus expected earnings per share, recent quarters
ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-05$1.63$1.45Missed -11%
2026-02-27$1.68$1.59Missed -5%
2025-11-05$1.59$6.80Beat +327%
2025-08-06$1.29$1.70Beat +32%
2025-05-01$1.20$1.26Beat +6%
2025-02-28$1.09$0.82Missed -24%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Duolingo, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 3 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Where these figures come from

Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.

What are the scenarios for Duolingo, Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.

◀ lowerhigher ▶todayBull▲ UpsideBase• In-lineBear▼ Downside
Bull
+10% to +20%subscription numbers surprise everyone on the upside
Base
-2% to +5%business chugs along in line with seasonal patterns
Bear
-15% to -25%growth slows down quicker than expected

What are the pros, cons and common questions?

The case each way, and the questions people ask
The bull case

it becomes the undisputed global go-to platform for lifelong learning

The bear case

artificial intelligence tools make standalone language apps obsolete

What are the pros and cons of Duolingo, Inc.?

4bull points
6bear points

A balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case4
  • High profit margins show strong underlying economics
  • Familiar brand with a fiercely loyal user base
  • Consistent double-digit revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago.
  • No debt weighing down the balance sheet
The catch3
  • Relies heavily on smartphone app store gatekeepers
  • Fierce competition from free alternatives and AI translation tools
  • Zero dividend paid back to shareholders
Key risks3
  • Users might treat learning as a fad and delete the app
  • Changes to tech giant app store rules could harm profitability
  • Higher spending on marketing might eat into profit margins
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

  • A sustained quarter-on-quarter drop in active daily users
  • A dramatic collapse in subscription conversion rates

Common questions about Duolingo, Inc.

Does Duolingo, Inc. pay a dividend?

No - Duolingo, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend, so the return would rest on the share price. Many growing companies reinvest profits instead of paying them out.

When does Duolingo, Inc. report earnings next?

Duolingo, Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-04. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.

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Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Prices as of 11 Sep 2026; other figures as of 11 Aug 2026. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.