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In the latest trading session, Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL - Free Report) closed at $124.71, marking a -6.86% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.89%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.74%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.29%.

Shares of the company witnessed a gain of 5.22% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Business Services sector with its gain of 4.27%, and the S&P 500's loss of 0.63%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Duolingo, Inc. in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on August 5, 2026. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.61, down 32.97% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $297.2 million, indicating a 17.81% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.81 per share and revenue of $1.2 billion, which would represent changes of -67.21% and +16.1%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Duolingo, Inc. should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.65% higher. Right now, Duolingo, Inc. possesses a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note Duolingo, Inc.'s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 47.7. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.53, which means Duolingo, Inc. is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that DUOL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.02. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Technology Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.44 at yesterday's closing price.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, putting it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

It's been tough for long-term investors to hold Duolingo (DUOL +4.04%). The stock is down more than 70% over the past year, and while it was overvalued at over $400 per share, the current price is at bargain-basement levels, and some investors are finally noticing.

The stock has rallied more than 20% over the past month, and there are several reasons for Duolingo investors to feel optimistic that this is just the beginning.

Image source: Getty Images.

Duolingo isn't just for learning new languages Duolingo's original specialty was gamifying the language-learning experience. However, it is expanding into teaching other subjects, including chess, its fastest-growing subject.

Chess is a notable addition since it expands Duolingo's offerings beyond academic areas. The edtech company introduced math and music a few years ago and continues to expand its inventory. Duolingo is turning into an app that helps people master high-demand skills, not just new languages.

Its recent artificial intelligence (AI) investments also play a role here. Duolingo told investors in its Q1 shareholder letter that AI has "fundamentally changed how quickly we can create content." The company was able to publish 20,500 course units in Q1, compared to an average of 7,100 per quarter in 2025 and 1,800 per quarter in 2024.

Duolingo explained that this dramatic scaling helped it improve its popular Chinese, Japanese, and Korean courses. However, this same increase in content production makes it substantially easier for Duolingo to create new courses on high-demand skills that attract more users.

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Net income is still growing Almost tripling quarterly course unit production in a single year gives customers more options. That helps with revenue, but surprisingly, Duolingo's net income has marched higher as well. It truly demonstrates that Duolingo's AI efforts are cost-efficient, which makes the growth sustainable.

For instance, Duolingo delivered 24% year-over-year net income growth in Q1. Revenue was up by 27%, so there was a slight contraction in the net profit margin. Duolingo still walked away from the quarter with a double-digit profit margin, which has become the norm.

All of this financial growth is fueled by steady user acquisition. Duolingo's daily active users and paid subscribers were both up by 21% year over year. With 56.5 million and 12.5 million people, respectively, in those segments, Duolingo can still gain more market share. A side focus on hot, broader subjects like chess can expand Duolingo's footprint and keep users more engaged.

Intentional revenue slowdown is for long-term gains Although Duolingo's numbers were good, they were a downgrade from what investors have come to expect. Last year, Duolingo was exceeding 40% year-over-year revenue growth. A drop to 27% would explain the decline if Duolingo traded at over $400 per share then. However, Duolingo released Q1 results in early May, when almost all of the damage was already done.

Duolingo is aiming to become a company that will be around for 100 years and change how the world learns everything. This long-term vision comes with a medium-term goal of reaching 100 million daily active users in 2028.

The company could make more revenue by pushing its subscriptions or establishing a hard paywall, but Duolingo said its scale wouldn't be possible with a paywall model. Getting to 100 million daily active users with a freemium model will give Duolingo more options and financial growth in the future when it maximizes its average revenue per user.

In the meantime, Duolingo continues to improve its subscriptions so more people feel inclined to become paying customers. The company cited its subscription-only Video Call feature, which has more than doubled the average number of words spoken per user who takes advantage of it.

Duolingo anticipates 17.1% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 and 16.1% in full-year 2026. The guidance figures imply deceleration and aren't glamorous for a growth stock, but Duolingo's correction is long overdue. Its efforts to attract 100 million daily active users in 2028 should pay off tremendously and give the company more opportunities to reignite revenue growth when the time calls for it.