Duolingo 's stock cratered 27% on lighter-than-expected guidance as the language learning platform zeroed in on user growth in lieu of near-term monetization.
"We have made a slight shift over the last quarter in how we invest, and we're investing a lot more in long-term things because we see that as such a big opportunity ahead of us," CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn told CNBC's Jon Fortt.
For the current quarter, Duolingo expects bookings to range between $329.5 million and $335.5 million, falling short of a $344.3 million estimate from FactSet. Adjusted EBITDA was forecasted to range between $75.4 million and $78.8 million, versus the $80.5 million expected.
Duolingo grew paid subscribers to 11.5 million and topped the 11.38 million expected by StreetAccount. But daily and monthly active users came up short at 50.5 million and 135.3 million, respectively. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had forecasted 51.2 million daily and 137.4 million monthly users.