Duolingo shares experienced a significant decline in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The stock reached a year-to-date gain of 66.8% by May 14, but ended the year with a 45.9% loss.
The company reported 50.5 million daily active users in its latest earnings report, up from 24.2 million two years earlier. Paid subscribers increased from 2.2 million to 11.5 million over a four-year period. Revenues grew from $226 million to $964 million, with net income turning to a 40% profit margin.
Co-founder Luis von Ahn stated in an interview last summer, "We're looking for things that have hundreds of millions of people or billions of people. It turns out a lot of people want to learn Pokémon cards. We're not going to do that. We want it to be good for the world."
Earnings continued to rise after May, while the stock price dropped. This brought Duolingo's price-to-earnings ratio down to 22.3 as of January 14, 2026.
Financial results remained strong, and von Ahn presented a long-term business plan. Some investors expressed concerns about artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT. The company recently shifted its operational focus from operating profit to user acquisition.
Margins are expected to decrease in coming quarters as Duolingo pursues user growth through discounted subscriptions and free trials.
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team identified 10 stocks for investors to buy now, and Duolingo was not among them. The team noted that Netflix and Nvidia, previously recommended stocks, generated substantial returns for investors.
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