Wall Street Zen Downgrades Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) to Sell

Posted by Geri Gentry on Aug 10th, 2026

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL – Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.12.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on DUOL

Duolingo Stock Performance

Duolingo stock opened at $130.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.86. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week high of $415.76.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $298.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.58 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 35.88%.The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Duolingo will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total transaction of $224,606.97. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DUOL. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duolingo by 1,868.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Duolingo by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 48,451 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position 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 period. Amundi raised its position in Duolingo by 142.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,352,000 after purchasing an additional 15,306 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo during the second quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

Positive Sentiment: Duolingo exceeded second-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share versus consensus of roughly $0.60-$0.61, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year to $298.5 million, above the $295.6 million estimate. DUOL Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong User Growth
Positive Sentiment: Daily active users increased 23% year over year, and paid subscribers continued to grow, reinforcing Duolingo’s long-term expansion strategy. Management also cited lower artificial-intelligence costs as a factor supporting profitability. Duolingo stock sinks 15% as Q3 revenue forecast misses expectations
Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $145 price target, while Truist raised its target to $120 from $100, indicating some analysts see value after the recent selloff. Analyst ratings and price targets
Neutral Sentiment: Management is prioritizing engagement and user growth, targeting 100 million daily active users by 2028, but projected 2026 revenue growth of approximately 16% signals a materially slower pace than Duolingo’s historical expansion. Duolingo outlines 2026 revenue growth of approximately 16%
Negative Sentiment: The main overhang is Duolingo’s third-quarter revenue forecast, which fell below Wall Street expectations. The guidance overshadowed the earnings and user-growth beats, prompting a sharp post-earnings selloff and raising concerns that the company’s growth engine is slowing. Duolingo posts better-than-expected sales but stock drops
Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded Duolingo to Underperform, and Truist’s Hold rating with a $120 target remains below the recent trading level, reflecting valuation and execution concerns. Bank of America downgrades Duolingo

About Duolingo

(Get Free Report)

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.