Duolingo jumps 5% after Evercore raises target to $210

Duolingo shares rose about 5% on Tuesday after Evercore ISI upgraded the language-learning company to Outperform and raised its price target to $210, implying roughly 42% upside from Monday’s close.

Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney pointed to higher user engagement tied to Duolingo’s recent AI-enabled features and cited a firm survey showing daily usage rising to 65% in 2026 from 61% in 2025. The survey also found that Duolingo offers about four times the selection of its closest pure-play competitor and showed improvements in user satisfaction.

Evercore highlighted product changes this year, including spoken tokens, Flashcards and Speaking Adventures, a free lesson format that lets learners complete tasks by interacting with Duolingo characters. The firm noted Duolingo’s current user retention rate reached a record 84%, up about one percentage point from a year earlier.

Evercore argued generative AI tools are unlikely to severely disrupt Duolingo’s core business, saying many users of large language models who study languages focus on travel-related needs that are harder for Duolingo to monetize.

DA Davidson also raised its outlook, increasing its price target to $175 from $160 while keeping a Buy rating. Analyst Wyatt Swanson based the revision on in-house tracking of more than 170,000 Duolingo users, which showed continued week-over-week increases in daily active users. DA Davidson reported August daily active users rose 1.3% month over month, up from a prior 0.6% update, and recorded 1.8% week-over-week growth in the week of Aug. 22-29, the firm’s strongest weekly gain since an early June event.

DA Davidson estimated third-quarter daily active user growth could reach between 25.6% and 27.6% year over year. The firm also said its tracking has historically underestimated Duolingo’s reported results by 100 to 200 basis points.

The stock has fallen more than 10% year to date. LSEG data show 17 of 25 analysts covering Duolingo have a Hold rating, reflecting differing views on whether higher engagement will translate into sustained paid subscriber growth.

Recent product launches and engagement metrics have prompted some analysts to raise price targets and forecasts. Analysts said they will monitor whether the company can convert increased activity into steady subscriber gains and revenue growth.