Duolingo Q3 Revenue $309M, DAUs +29%, FY Guidance Raised; Max Tier Sunset
DUOL sits 63% above its 52-week low of $87.89 on elevated volume (2.1× avg).
Summary
Duolingo reported Q3 revenue of $309.0M (+14%) and bookings of $316.1M (+12%), with DAUs up 29% to 64.9M, and raised full-year 2026 guidance to $1,221M revenue and $323M Adjusted EBITDA. The company will sunset its Max subscription tier and move those subscribers to a Super family plan at the same price.
Key Events · Earnings and Guidance · DUOL
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Q3 Beat With DAU Acceleration
Revenue $309.0M (+14% YoY) and total bookings $316.1M (+12% YoY) both came in ahead of guidance; DAUs rose 29% to 64.9M, accelerating from 23% growth in Q2.
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FY2026 Guidance Raised Across Metrics
Full-year bookings now $1,296M (+12%), revenue $1,221M (+18%) and Adjusted EBITDA $323M (26.5% margin), $3M above prior guidance and $21M above the midpoint of original February guidance.
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Margins Compress On AI And Bonus Accrual
Adjusted EBITDA fell 2% to $78.7M (25.5% margin from 29.5%) on higher AI feature costs and an $11.4M company-wide performance bonus accrual tied to the Q4 DAU goal; Q4 gross margin guided to 72.0%, down 90 bps sequentially.
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Max Tier Sunset Into Super
Duolingo will stop selling new Max subscriptions this month and move existing Max individual subscribers to a Super family plan at the same price; bookings impact is guided as minimal and reflected in Q4 guidance.
Analysis · DUOL · Technology
Duolingo beat on every line it guides to and raised full-year 2026 guidance across bookings, revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. The user engine is the story: DAUs grew 29% to 64.9M, accelerating from 23% in Q2, which is what the market has been waiting to see after a year of decelerating growth and a soft Q3 guide in August. The trade-off is margin — Adjusted EBITDA fell 2% to $78.7M as the company spent on AI features and an $11.4M performance bonus accrual tied to hitting the Q4 DAU goal. Management also decided to sunset the Max tier and fold unlimited Video Call into Super, a monetization simplification that removes the highest-priced subscription but is guided to have minimal bookings impact. With $1.4B in cash and $82.0M of buybacks done, the balance sheet is not a constraint; the question is whether the DAU acceleration converts into the 13% Q4 bookings growth being guided.
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At the time of this filing, DUOL was trading at $143.01 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $6B. The 52-week trading range was $87.89 to $279.98. This filing was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10.