Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney upgraded Duolingo to ‘Outperform’ from ‘In Line’ with a price target of $210, up from $105, as per TheFly.
- The analyst said that they had “materially” increased the firm’s estimates following a proprietary survey and an analysis of current product improvements.
- Evercore said that its fiscal year 2027 and FY28 earnings per share forecasts are now 10% and 25% above Street consensus, respectively, adding that the current setup of Duolingo “reminds us of the ’22 NFLX stock scenario.”
- Evercore expects Duolingo to clock about 99 million daily users in 2028.
Duolingo Inc. (DUOL) stock is up nearly 5% in the premarket session early Tuesday after Evercore ISI doubled its price target on the company, saying that the language-learning platform could be entering a growth cycle that serves as a reminder of Netflix in 2022.
Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney upgraded Duolingo to ‘Outperform’ from ‘In Line’ with a price target of $210, up from $105, as per TheFly. The revised target implies an upside of more than 40% from its last close.
The analyst said that they had “materially” increased the firm’s estimates following a proprietary survey and an analysis of current product improvements.
Evercore Sees Netflix-Like Turnaround For DUOL Stock
Evercore said its fiscal year 2027 and FY28 earnings per share forecasts are now 10% and 25% above Street consensus, respectively, adding that Duolingo’s current setup “reminds us of the ’22 NFLX stock scenario.”
The analyst clarified that in that case, after NFLX shares hit a growth wall and the stock collapsed 70%, a series of major, successful product changes led to “a virtuous cycle” of fundamental improvements, positive estimate revisions, and “dramatic share price outperformance.”
Duolingo’s Users Are Growing
Duolingo’s latest quarterly results show app users are growing. The company reported an 18% jump in second-quarter revenue, while total bookings increased 8%. Daily active users increased 23% to 58.7 million, while paid subscribers climbed 17% to 12.7 million.
Evercore expects Duolingo to clock about 99 million daily users in 2028.
Low Threat From AI
A Barron’s report noted that Evercore’s survey of 1,300 U.S. language learners found that 53% use Duolingo, roughly four times the share for rival Babbel, while user satisfaction rose to 66% from 64% last year.
Although AI tools such as ChatGPT, used by 36% of respondents, pose a competitive risk, there is little evidence of cannibalization, as more than half of ChatGPT users also use Duolingo and 63% of this group use it daily.
Evercore reportedly said that it sees the bigger AI threat as difficulty attracting new casual users. However, churn concerns are rising, with 33% of Duolingo users likely to stop using the app within three months, up from 30% last year.
DUOL Stock: Retail Sentiment
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around DUOL stock was ‘bearish’ even as message volumes surged 850% over 24 hours.
One user said, “$DUOL If AI were killing Duolingo, users should be leaving. The exact opposite is happening. DAUs reached 58.7M, up 23%, accelerating from the previous quarter. Paid subscribers grew 17% and revenue increased 18%. And this is happening while the company is sacrificing short-term monetization to invest more in product and growth. Everyone is focused on quarterly bookings growth while overlooking the fact that more and more people are using Duolingo EVERY single day.”
However, another user said, “$DUOL back to 80s soon.” DUOL stock was trading at $155.50 at the time of writing.
Shares of the company have declined nearly 16% so far in 2026.
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