Duolingo’s (DUOL) Sector Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Scotiabank

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by analysts at Scotiabank in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. They currently have a $100.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank’s target price suggests a potential downside of 14.86% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial set a $245.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on Duolingo in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Duolingo from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Duolingo Stock Performance

DUOL stock opened at $117.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.19. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $104.51 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total transaction of $110,060.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 122,636 shares in the company, valued at $13,497,318.16. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.51, for a total transaction of $402,392.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 115,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,096,783.80. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Duolingo by 324.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Duolingo by 5,800.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,368,000 after purchasing an additional 551,000 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,319,000 after purchasing an additional 497,517 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter worth $86,159,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Duolingo

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beats: Duolingo reported $0.91 EPS (above $0.78 est.) and $282.9M revenue (above ~$276M est.), and said it closed 2025 with >50M DAU and >$1B in bookings — evidence of strong underlying user and profitability metrics. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term user target: Management set a goal of ~20% DAU growth and 100M users by 2028, signaling an aggressive growth push that could expand monetization opportunities if achieved. Seeking Alpha
• Neutral Sentiment: AI and buyback discussion: Management plans increased AI investment and has discussed buyback activity; these moves aim to defend market position but raise near-term cost and valuation questions. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Strategy shift hits guidance: Duolingo warned FY‑2026 revenue ~ $1.2B vs. consensus ~$1.3B and Q1 revenue ~$288.5M vs. ~$289.3M est., and forecast softer bookings as it prioritizes DAU growth — the weaker forward outlook spooked investors. WSJ
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and volatility: Coverage and headlines note a sharp share drop after the call as Wall Street reacts negatively to sacrificing near-term revenue for DAU — Barron’s calls the strategy shake‑up a key reason for the stock plunge. Barron’s
• Negative Sentiment: Investor/legal risk: A law firm (Johnson Fistel) announced an investigation into potential securities claims tied to Duolingo executives, which can increase legal uncertainty and investor concern. Newsfile
• Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest: Short interest jumped in February (to ~23% of float), raising the potential for continued selling pressure and volatility. InsiderMonkey

Duolingo Company Profile

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.