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LivestreamMenuDuolingo is poised to bounce back as it leans into artificial intelligence to court more users and continue leading the language learning market, according to Evercore ISI. The research firm upgraded the stock to outperform from in line and hiked its price target to $210 from $105, implying nearly 42% upside from Monday’s close. “Duolingo now commands ~4x the selection of its closest pure-play competitor,” analyst Mark Mahaney said Monday in a note to clients, referencing data from a recent survey by Evercore ISI. “What is key is that our survey work – tracking both rising satisfaction and rising daily frequency (daily usage rising from 61% in ’25 to 65% in ’26) – provides proprietary evidence of the positive impact of [recent AI-linked] product changes.” Shares of Duolingo were last up more than 5% in trading on Tuesday. The stock has shed more than 10% year to date as Duolingo struggled to sustain its paid subscriber growth and faces AI-linked disruption risks. DUOL YTD mountain Shares are down about 15% in 2026. However, the company has introduced several AI-enabled products that should support its efforts to attract more users and improve the monetization of its platform, according to Evercore ISI. “We’ve been particularly focused on the engagement impact of several AI-enabled products DUOL has shipped this year – spoken tokens, Flashcards, and Speaking Adventures (a free lesson type where learners complete real-world tasks by talking to DUOL’s characters) – all of which we think can boost engagement & drive further user growth,” Mahaney wrote. Duolingo recently disclosed that its current user retention rate hit a record high of 84%, the analyst said. That marks a roughly 1% increase on a year-over-year basis. Language learners’ use of generative AI tools is unlikely to hurt Duolingo, according to the analyst. ChatGPT users are largely interested in learning languages for travel, or a corner of the market on which Duolingo is less focused due to the fact that it is more difficult to monetize, per the analyst. Evercore ISI’s call goes against consensus on Wall Street. Of the 25 analysts covering Duolingo, 17 have a hold rating on the stock, LSEG data shows.Read More
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