How Duolingo Stock Jumped 36% Thursday Morning

Key Points

• Duolingo crushed analyst expectations, both for earnings and revenue targets.

• The company is awaiting Chinese approval to launch its popular and lucrative AI-powered Max plan using a local AI model.

• A richer mix of premium subscriptions drove profitability higher.

• 10 stocks we like better than Duolingo ›

Language-learning expert Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) aced its second-quarter report, sending its stock price as much as 36.2% higher on Thursday. By 1:20 p.m. ET, the stock had cooled down slightly to a 24% gain.

Image source: Getty Images.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Duolingo's financial report card shows straight "A"s

The analyst consensus had called for earnings of approximately $0.58 per share on revenue near $241 million. Duolingo breezed past both targets with ease. Revenue rose 41% year over year to $252 million while earnings jumped 78% to $0.91 per diluted share.

The number of daily active users rose 40% to 47.7 million. The number of paid subscribers increased by 37%, landing at 10.9 million accounts.

Duolingo's growth story speaks fluent Mandarin

Duolingo enjoyed a richer mix of premium service plans, in conjunction with strong growth across the digital learning platform.

On the earnings call, CEO Luis von Ahn highlighted Asia as the fastest-growing region, with particular strength in China. The Duolingo Max plan is not yet available in that market due to strict regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) services, but Duolingo has done the paperwork and is waiting for approval to launch a Max plan in China that's based on a local large language model (LLM). If and when that request is approved, Duolingo's strongest growth market should generate even richer revenue streams.

Duolingo's stock is still trading nearly 30% below May's all-time highs, but it's hard to complain when share prices are up 142% over the last 52 weeks. This stock isn't cheap, but Duolingo has earned every penny of that top-shelf valuation the hard way -- with a promising business model and impressive financial results.

Should you invest $1,000 in Duolingo right now?

Before you buy stock in Duolingo, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Duolingo wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $635,544!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,099,758!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,046% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Duolingo. The Motley Fool recommends Duolingo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.