Duolingo downgraded at Scotiabank as pivot won’t ‘sit well with investors’

As previously reported, Scotiabank analyst Nat Schindler downgraded Duolingo (DUOL) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $100, down from $300. The company posted “strong” quarterly results, but gave guidance that “put the bull case to bed, at least for the time being,” as a pivot towards user growth over monetization is “likely to not sit well with investors,” the analyst argues. Bookings growth of about 11% in FY26 would be a massive deceleration in growth from about 33% in FY25 and came in well below Street expectations of about 20%, the analyst noted.