Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $145.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DUOL. Bank of America cut Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $103.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duolingo from $94.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.18.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Duolingo stock opened at $135.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $468.00.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm had revenue of $298.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duolingo will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the completion of 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864 in the last ninety days. 16.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Duolingo by 3.5% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 5.0% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Duolingo by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,778,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Duolingo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Duolingo

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duolingo reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share, ahead of the roughly $0.60-$0.61 analyst consensus, while revenue reached approximately $298.5 million, up 18.3% year over year and slightly above some estimates. Duolingo Q2 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management is prioritizing user engagement and expects to reach 100 million daily active users by 2028. The company outlined approximately 16% revenue growth for 2026, suggesting management remains focused on expanding its long-term user base. Duolingo Outlines 2026 Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Duolingo generated $88.3 million in operating cash flow during the quarter and ended June with approximately $1.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, providing substantial financial flexibility.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company may “sunset” its premium Max subscription tier as it evaluates its product and user-growth strategy. The change could simplify the offering but also creates uncertainty about monetization and average revenue per user. Duolingo May Sunset Its Max Tier
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of approximately $302 million was below the $303.9 million consensus estimate. The cautious forecast overshadowed the second-quarter beat and raised concerns that user growth is not translating into near-term revenue at the expected pace. Duolingo’s Lower-than-Expected Revenue Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter net income fell 26% year over year to $33.2 million, while diluted EPS declined from $0.91 to $0.66, adding to concerns about earnings momentum despite solid revenue growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded DUOL from Neutral to Underperform and cut its price target from $103 to $93, citing downside risk following the outlook. Bank of America Downgrades Duolingo

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.