Duolingo soars as it reports strong Q2 numbers, breaking slump
Since May, year-to-date gains have nearly been erased.
Duolingo reported Q2 results after the close Wednesday, soundly beating expectations and jumping 24% in after-hours trading.
The language-learning app posted:
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.91 vs. Wall Street expectations for $0.59.
Sales of $252.3 million vs. expectations for $240.7 million.
Daily active user growth of 40% in Q2, vs. expectations for 43.5%.
Duolingo raised its guidance for Q3 sales to a range of $257 million to $261 million vs. its previous range of $238.5 million to $241.5 million.
The company also raised its full-year sales guidance to a range of $1.01 billion to $1.02 billion vs. its previous range of $987 million to $996 million.
Alongside earnings Duolingo also issued a press release announcing it had acquired “the team behind NextBeat, a London-based music gaming startup” as an investment in its music education offerings.
Duolingo had been on a tear for much of the year, and at its peak on May 14, it was up 67% in 2025. The shares had nearly erased their year-to-date gains, however, after a company memo on Duolingo’s AI-first strategy was posted on LinkedIn, provoking a social media backlash. (The memo had laid out plans to shift some work from outside contractors to AI.)
It sounds like a tempest in a teacup. But several analysts have marked a deceleration in user activity at Duolingo since the LinkedIn post. Since May 14, the stock is down more than 35% before Wednesday’s after-hours surge.
Heading into the conference call, analysts and shareholders are going to be listening for details about whether daily active user growth is expected to reaccelerate, as well as indications that the company’s higher-priced Duolingo Max offering is gathering traction. AI-related development costs will also be an area of interest.
