Short Interest in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Grows By 26.5%

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,729,424 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the January 29th total of 6,902,698 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,146,213 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 23.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 23.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,146,213 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James H. Shelton bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $99.76 per share, for a total transaction of $498,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,632 shares in the company, valued at $960,888.32. The trade was a 107.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total transaction of $110,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 122,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,497,318.16. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 over the last ninety days. 15.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duolingo by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,647,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,733,000 after purchasing an additional 116,135 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Duolingo by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,241,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,362,000 after purchasing an additional 11,140 shares during the period. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Duolingo by 324.4% during the third quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Duolingo by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DUOL shares. Truist Financial downgraded Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Duolingo to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Duolingo from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $206.32.

More Duolingo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director James H. Shelton bought 5,000 shares (increasing his stake ~108%), a signal of insider confidence that can support the share price. SEC Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Duolingo previously announced a US$400M buyback to back growth/AI investments — reduces float and provides capital support, a concrete near-term positive for shareholders. Duolingo Backs User Growth And AI With US$400m Buyback Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts/coverage highlight FY2026 as a transition year: management is prioritizing free-user engagement and DAU growth (target 100M DAUs by 2028) which could depress near-term monetization and earnings but potentially enable longer-term growth. Mixed implications for valuation. Duolingo: FY2026 Will Be A Year Of Transition, Doubling Daily Active Users By 2028
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in recent reporting appears inconsistent/insignificant (reported zeros), so current short-squeeze dynamics are unclear and unlikely to explain today’s move. (Data noise limits inference.)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded DUOL from “hold” to “strong sell,” which can trigger selling pressure from retail and model-driven funds. Zacks Research
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms (Pomerantz; Faruqi & Faruqi) announced investigations/possible litigation on behalf of Duolingo investors, increasing legal overhang and uncertainty. Pomerantz Investigation Faruqi & Faruqi Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Critical media pieces argue the stock’s collapse reflects deeper issues (slowing growth, strategy shift toward DAUs over near-term monetization), keeping bearish sentiment high. Inc: Duolingo Stock Is Falling Off a Cliff Seeking Alpha: The 80% Drop Doesn’t Make It Cheap
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk: reports that Google launched a new language-learning tool add pressure to user acquisition and monetization assumptions. Goodbye Duolingo: Google has just launched a new language learning tool

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL stock opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 2.82. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.55 and its 200 day moving average is $219.04. Duolingo has a 1-year low of $91.99 and a 1-year high of $544.93.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a technology-driven education company that operates a widely used language-learning platform. Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo offers a freemium service featuring bite-sized lessons, gamified exercises and adaptive learning algorithms. The company’s core product is its mobile and web application, which supports instruction in more than 40 languages, ranging from widely spoken tongues such as English and Spanish to lesser-taught options including Irish and Swahili.

In addition to its flagship language courses, Duolingo has expanded its product suite to include the Duolingo English Test, an on-demand, computer-based English proficiency exam designed for academic and professional admissions.