The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Price

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group cut its price target on Duolingo from $425 to $250 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 24% upside from the recent share price.
• Duolingo reported a blowout quarter — EPS $5.95 vs. $0.72 expected and revenue of $271.7M (+41% year-over-year) — yet analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with an average price target of $340.53.
• Shares traded near $201 (market cap ≈ $9.22B, P/E 25.5) while insiders have sold about 83,791 shares (~$25.6M) in the past 90 days, even as institutional ownership sits at roughly 91.6%.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $425.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 24.25% from the stock's current price.

DUOL has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Duolingo in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI set a $330.00 target price on Duolingo and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on Duolingo from $390.00 to $230.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $300.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $340.53.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL traded up $7.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $201.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,327,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,628. The company has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.83. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $182.00 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $299.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $5.23. Duolingo had a net margin of 40.03% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company had revenue of $271.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $260.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Duolingo's revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Duolingo has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Duolingo will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total value of $3,471,294.43. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,757,269.55. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,283 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $1,025,280.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 116,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,280,203.30. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 83,791 shares of company stock valued at $25,649,401 over the last 90 days. 15.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duolingo by 43.6% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 4,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Duolingo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company's stock.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam.

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