Duolingo’s Descent: A Mildly Infuriating Saga

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So, Duolingo. (DUOL 9.04%). January wasn’t… great. Down 23.6%, they say. Twenty-three point six percent! It’s not like they invented cold fusion, you know? It’s a language app. And yet, the market decides it’s worth less. The whole thing feels… off. Like when someone cuts you off in traffic and then also doesn’t use their blinker. Just a complete disregard for basic societal norms. It started sliding in 2025, apparently. A slow leak. Like a faucet you keep meaning to fix. And now, this. It’s back to March 2023 prices. March! As if time isn’t already a relentless march toward… well, you know.

January just kept the downward spiral going. Of course it did. It’s always something. Then, the CFO, Matt Skaruppa – six years in the C-suite, a perfectly respectable tenure – decides to leave. Just… leaves. No fanfare. It’s not like he announced it with a marching band. It’s just… a departure. Like someone quietly switching out your coffee with decaf. You don’t even realize it until you’re halfway through your day and questioning your very existence.

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A Pivot and a Parting

Let me lay out the scene. November 2025, the CEO, Luis von Ahn, decides they need a “strategic pivot.” A pivot! Like they’re some sort of…gymnastics team. They were focused on making money, which, you know, is generally a good idea for a business, but investors got spooked because subscriber growth slowed. Slowed! People get busy. They have lives. They don’t want to spend their evenings conjugating verbs. It’s unreasonable to expect constant, exponential growth. So, von Ahn decides to prioritize growth and quality. As if those two things are mutually exclusive. It’s like saying you want a quiet party. It doesn’t compute.

November and December, the stock slides. Predictable. Then comes January, after all the “Gott nytt år” and “Feliz Año Nuevo” – all that forced cheer – and it just…continues. And then, on January 8th, Skaruppa announces his departure. No big announcement. Just…gone. It’s a lack of respect for the process, that’s what it is. You expect a certain level of formality, a proper exit strategy, and you get…silence.

They also updated guidance. Daily active users will be slightly below expectations, but bookings will be above. Above! It’s always a mixed bag, isn’t it? You get a little good news, a little bad news, and you’re left wondering what it all means. And all this is happening in a shaky economy, where people are apparently questioning the value of learning conversational Spanish. Conversational Spanish! As if self-improvement is a luxury item. It’s preposterous.

Why I’m Not Panicking (Yet)

Critics claim it’s overvalued? Please. As of February 3rd, it’s down 67% over the last year. Sixty-seven percent! And it’s trading at only 15.3 times trailing earnings. Modest, they call it. For a company with 40% year-over-year revenue growth for six consecutive quarters? It’s almost… suspicious. Like a really good deal on a used car. You just know there’s something wrong with the transmission.

It hasn’t been this affordable since the IPO in 2021. And the revenue growth is… well, it’s actually pretty good. They’re also profitable, with 40% net profit margins. Forty percent! And they generated $355 million in free cash flow on $964 million in sales. It’s a cash machine, they say. A cash machine! As if money grows on trees. It’s all very… unsettling.

Maybe I’m biased. My Duolingo streak will hit ten years in June 2026. Ten years! I’ve been diligently learning phrases I’ll probably never use. But it works for me. It’s gamified. It’s… mildly addictive. So, I think it’s a good investment. It’ll grow. It’ll fluctuate. But the overall trend is… upward. Probably.

I can’t promise the price will stop dropping in February. But I see it as a buying opportunity. Timing the market is foolish. It’s a fool’s errand. For investors with patience, it’s… potentially affordable. Potentially. But honestly, the whole thing just feels… off. It’s like a mismatched sock. It’s a small thing, but it bothers you all day.

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2026-02-04 05:54