Duolingo Sees Booking Growth Accelerate Along With Users

The little green birdy platform saw user growth accelerate. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg)

Key Points

Duolingo stock rose nearly 13% in late trading after the company raised its fourth-quarter expectations.
Duolingo reported third-quarter earnings of 54 cents a share on revenue of $309 million, missing analyst profit estimates of 57 cents.
CEO Luis von Ahn said the company is prioritizing teaching better and user growth this year.

Duolingo’s narrow miss on earnings didn’t hold back its stock, which popped nearly 13% in late trading after the language-learning platform raised expectations for the fourth quarter.

The company reported third quarter earnings of 54 cents a share and revenue of $309 million, up 13.7%. Analysts expected earnings of 57 cents a share and revenue of $303 million.

The stock was up 12.8% to $144.44 after closing down 5.4% in the regular session.

Daily active users in the third quarter rose 29% from a year ago to 64.9 million, and total bookings rose 12%, to $316 million.

Duolingo said fourth quarter revenue was expected to be $322 million and bookings are expected to be $382 million, which would mean an acceleration of bookings, up 13% from the prior year.

CEO Luis von Ahn said “this year, we’re prioritizing teaching better and user growth, and we’re seeing that strategy paying off.”

The growth in daily active users is also accelerating, up from 23% growth in the second quarter.

Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@barrons.com

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