Duolingo tumbles despite better-than-expected Q1 results

Traders are crying foul over the green owl.

Duolingo posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, calling it an “outstanding start to the year.”

But the market seems to disagree, with shares down more than 10% in after-hours trading.

Here are the Q1 details:

• Revenue of $292 million (compared to analyst estimates of $288.5 million).

• Adjusted EBITDA of $83.4 million (estimate: $73.5 million).

• Daily active users of 56.5 million (estimate: 55.7 million). 

• Paid subscribers of 12.5 million (estimate: 12.7 million).

The company also boosted its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $310 million, up from a prior range of $299 million to $305 million, and solidified its revenue outlook to $1.21 billion, the midpoint of its previous range.

The first quarter’s top- and bottom-line beats are larger than the changes to its full-year guidance. This may be Duolingo’s way of keeping expectations low, but on the surface it could be viewed as a sign that the good news for 2026 is already in the rearview mirror.

The language-learning app hit all-time highs more than a year ago and has been in free fall ever since, losing over 75% of its value as investors grapple with the effects of artificial intelligence on the foreign language business.

Duolingo’s user growth has slowed meaningfully in recent quarters, and has been decelerating for years. The company blamed some of this on choosing to forgo some of its unhinged social media posting, trading off user growth for a more positive experience. Whatever the reason, the slowing in user growth continued in Q1, with the app showing a 21.2% increase in daily active users compared to 2025. The deceleration was softer than feared, however, outperforming its guidance and the Street’s call.

Going forward, CEO and cofounder Luis von Ahn sees room to expand in some areas that might seem a little far afield for a language-learning app, until you remember how gamified nearly every app experience is these days.

“We are moving quickly to prioritize the product and free user experience, while also investing in our next engines of growth, like chess, math, and music. We have conviction this is ultimately what will make us a larger and more durable company,” he wrote.