Investing.com -- Language learning platform Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations, but shares sank over 8% in premarket trading Friday despite the company providing an optimistic outlook for 2025.
Duolingo posted Q4 revenue of $209.6 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $205 million and representing a 39% YoY increase. Net income rose to $13.9 million from $12.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
The company's user metrics showed strong growth, with daily active users (DAUs) surging 51% YoY to 40.5 million and monthly active users (MAUs) increasing 32% to 116.7 million. Paid subscribers grew 43% YoY to 9.5 million.
"We closed out 2024 with a record-breaking quarter," said CEO Luis von Ahn. "Duolingo Max, our highest subscription tier, helped drive this growth by exceeding our expectations."
Looking ahead, Duolingo provided upbeat guidance for Q1 and full-year 2025. The company expects Q1 revenue between $220.5-$223.5 million, above the $221 million analyst consensus. For FY2025, Duolingo projects revenue of $962.5-$978.5 million, also topping the $964.9 million consensus estimate.
Despite the strong results and outlook, Duolingo shares tanked in Friday's premarket trade. The modest decline may reflect some profit-taking after the stock's significant run-up over the past year.
Evercore ISI analysts lifted their estimates and price target on Duolingo stock, to $400 from $335 after the report.
"Duolingo continues to deliver highly consistent and intrinsically very robust topline growth rates, very strong user growth, and materially rising margins," Evercore analysts said.
"These remain arguably the strongest fundamentals in SMiD Cap Internet. And these reflect outstanding product innovation, a compelling value proposition, a still very modest penetration of a large TAM, and a very impressive management team," they added.
Luke Juricic contributed to this report.
