Duolingo Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
Rhea-AI Summary
Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results and announced a $400 million share repurchase authorization. The company said it surpassed 50 million daily active users and generated more than $1 billion in bookings for the first time in 2025. Duolingo said it will prioritize user growth and improving the free learner experience in 2026, aiming to reach 100 million daily active users in the medium term. A live webcast with management is scheduled for February 26, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. ET, with a replay available on the investor relations website.
Positive
- 50M daily active users milestone in 2025
- $1B+ bookings generated for the first time in 2025
- $400M share repurchase program authorized to return capital
Negative
- Prioritizing user growth is expected to moderate near‑term financial growth
- Share repurchases are fully discretionary; timing and size are uncertain
Market Reaction – DUOL
Following this news, DUOL has declined 21.40%, reflecting a significant negative market reaction. Our momentum scanner has triggered 71 alerts so far, indicating high trading interest and price volatility. The stock is currently trading at $92.31. This price movement has removed approximately $1.48B from the company's valuation.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus (15 min delayed). Upgrade to Silver for real-time data.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
DUOL was up about 2% while peers showed mixed moves (e.g., DT, MANH, PAYC up; YMM down), and no peers appeared in the momentum scanner, pointing to a company-specific reaction rather than a sector-wide move.
Previous Earnings Reports
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 01 | Q1 2025 earnings | Positive | +21.6% | Record DAU additions, 10M paid subscribers, 38% revenue growth in Q1 2025. |
| Aug 07 | Q2 2024 earnings | Positive | +10.9% | 100M MAUs, 59% DAU growth, 41% revenue growth and raised 2024 guidance. |
| May 08 | Q1 2024 earnings | Positive | -18.0% | 45% revenue growth, record profitability and higher guidance despite negative move. |
| Feb 28 | Q4 2023 earnings | Positive | +22.2% | Strong DAU and revenue growth with record profitability in Q4 2023. |
Earnings releases have often driven strong single-day moves, usually positive, though at least one strong-quarter report saw a negative reaction, indicating occasionally contrarian trading around results.
Over recent earnings cycles, Duolingo has repeatedly highlighted strong user and revenue growth, along with improving profitability. Events on Feb 28, 2024, May 8, 2024, Aug 7, 2024, and May 1, 2025 all showcased robust DAU gains, subscriber milestones, and double-digit revenue growth, often tied to AI-driven product improvements and Duolingo Max. Those announcements produced sizable one-day moves, mostly positive. Today’s full-year 2025 report and capital return plan fit into this pattern of growth-focused, AI-enabled execution while adding a new capital allocation dimension via repurchases.
Historical Comparison
Past earnings releases produced an average one-day move of 9.18%, often sharply positive on strong user and revenue growth. This report adds a large buyback and explicit focus on AI-driven learning, consistent with prior growth narratives.
Earnings history shows a progression from rapid DAU and revenue expansion in 2023–2024 to record profitability, growing paid subscribers, and deeper AI integration by 2025, with today’s update adding a capital return layer alongside continued user-growth investment.
Market Pulse Summary
The stock is dropping -21.4% following this news. A negative reaction despite milestones such as over 50 million DAUs, more than $1 billion in bookings, and a $400 million repurchase would fit Duolingo’s occasional pattern of selling off on otherwise strong earnings. Historical data include at least one instance where robust revenue and profitability still saw a decline. In such cases, investors may have focused on trade-offs like moderated near-term financial growth as the company prioritized user expansion and product quality.
Key Terms
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Announces Authorization of
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOL) announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025 in a shareholder letter that is posted on its Investor Relations website at investors.duolingo.com.
“We closed 2025 with strong momentum, surpassing 50 million daily active users and generating more than
“At the same time, advances in AI are fundamentally reshaping how people learn, and we believe this is a pivotal moment for our company. In 2026, we are deliberately prioritizing user growth and teaching better. We’ll focus on improving the free learner experience to grow word of mouth and feed our next user growth engines like chess, math and music, even though that moderates near-term financial growth. We believe this strategy positions Duolingo to reach 100 million daily active users in the medium-term and build a significantly larger, more durable business in the long-term.”
Share Repurchase Authorization
Duolingo’s Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to
Video Webcast
Duolingo will host a live video webcast to discuss its quarterly results today, February 26, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Luis von Ahn, our Founder and CEO, and Gillian Munson, our Chief Financial Officer, will answer questions from sell side analysts. This webcast and related materials will be publicly available and can be accessed at investors.duolingo.com. A replay will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website two hours following completion of the webcast and will remain available for a period of one year.
About Duolingo
Duolingo is the leading mobile learning platform globally. Its flagship app has organically become the world's most popular way to learn languages and the top-grossing app in the Education category on both Google Play and the Apple App Store. With technology at the core of everything it does, Duolingo has consistently invested to provide learners a fun, engaging, and effective learning experience while remaining committed to its mission to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including without limitation, statements regarding our business model and strategic priorities for growth, product enhancement, and monetization, including the expected benefits and efficacy of new products and product innovation for user growth and retention, our share repurchase program, our use of AI features, and our financial outlook and guidance, are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “shall,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “goal,” “objective,” “seeks,” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to: our ability to retain and grow our users and sustain their engagement with our products; competition in the online language learning industry; our limited operating history; our ability to maintain or increase profitability; our ability to manage our growth and operate at such scale; the success of our investments; our reliance on third-party platforms to store and distribute our products and collect revenue; our reliance on third-party hosting and cloud computing providers; our ability to compete for advertisements; acceptance by educational organizations of technology-based education; our ability to access, collect, use, and otherwise process Personal Data about our users and payers, and to comply with applicable data privacy laws; our ability to successfully develop, implement and use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies; our ability adequately obtain, protect and maintain our intellectual property rights; and the other important factors more fully detailed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, as any such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at investors.duolingo.com. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this letter. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, unless required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
Contacts
Investor Relations:
Deborah Belevan, VP of Investor Relations
IR@duolingo.com
Press:
Monica Earle, Director of Public Relations
press@duolingo.com
FAQ
What did Duolingo (DUOL) announce about user growth in the February 26, 2026 report?
How large is the share repurchase program Duolingo (DUOL) authorized on February 26, 2026?
What bookings milestone did Duolingo (DUOL) report for full year 2025?
Will Duolingo (DUOL) buy back shares immediately under the $400 million program?
How will Duolingo's (DUOL) 2026 strategy affect short‑term financial growth?
When and where can investors watch Duolingo's (DUOL) February 26, 2026 webcast?
