Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $375.78, but opened at $325.06. Duolingo shares last traded at $306.25, with a volume of 608,057 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.19). Duolingo had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The firm had revenue of $209.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.49 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUOL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Duolingo from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Duolingo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.09.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 3,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $435.28, for a total value of $1,429,459.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,982 shares in the company, valued at $26,108,964.96. This represents a 5.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 2,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.12, for a total value of $898,087.68. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 34,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,946.08. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 305,639 shares of company stock valued at $105,445,057. 18.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DUOL. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Duolingo by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Duolingo by 5,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 103 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Trading Down 17.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.53 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $359.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $310.97.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam.