DUOL vs COUR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Duolingo offers faster-growing, consumer app-driven exposure to language learning, while Coursera provides a more diversified but slower-growing platform spanning consumer, enterprise, and degree-based online education.
Investors weighing Duolingo against Coursera are choosing between a high-growth, premium-valued consumer learning app and a more diversified, lower-growth education platform serving multiple customer segments.
COUR holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. COUR leads on both 1-year return (-46.81%) and forward P/E quality (7.29x vs 19.04x for DUOL), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, COUR is growing revenue faster (59.60%), while DUOL maintains the higher operating margin (11.68%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for COUR (+36.11%) than for DUOL (-13.04%).
- Want exposure to a fast-growing, highly engaged consumer education app
- Believe in continued expansion of Duolingo's subject offerings and monetization
- Are comfortable paying a premium valuation for sustained growth
- Can tolerate volatility tied to user engagement and growth metrics
- Prefer diversified exposure across consumer, enterprise, and degree-based education
- Value established partnerships with universities and enterprise customers
- Are comfortable with a slower-growth, more value-oriented profile
- Want exposure to enterprise upskilling and professional credentialing trends
| Metric | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 24.7 | 23.7 |
| AI rank | #2974 | #3472 |
| Latest close | $146.13 | $6.00 |
| 1M return | +22.27% | +12.36% |
| 6M return | +31.52% | -1.32% |
| 1Y return | -57.71% | -46.81% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $4.23K (-57.7%) started 2025-08-21 | $5.32K (-46.8%) started 2025-08-21 |
| 5Y ago | $11.78K (+17.8%) started 2021-08-23 | $1.66K (-83.4%) started 2021-08-23 |
| 10Y ago | $10.88K (+8.8%) started 2021-07-28 | $1.33K (-86.7%) started 2021-03-31 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $6.81B | $1.72B |
| Trailing P/E | 17.27 | N/A |
| Forward P/E | 19.04 | 7.29 |
| Price/Sales | 5.95 | 1.94 |
| EV/Revenue | 4.90 | 0.69 |
| Analyst target | $127.07 | $8.17 |
| Target upside | -13.04% | +36.11% |
| Metric | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 18.30% | 59.60% |
| Earnings growth | -27.50% | N/A |
| EPS growth | -27.50% | N/A |
| FCF margin | +26.22% | +41.36% |
| Operating margin | 11.68% | -1.64% |
| Profit margin | 35.88% | -15.39% |
| ROIC proxy | 34.42% | -15.20% |
| Return on equity | 34.42% | -15.20% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Beta | 0.88 | 1.23 |
| Debt/equity | 6.11 | 0.83 |
| Current ratio | 2.72 | 1.59 |
| Quick ratio | 2.51 | 1.49 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -57.71% | -46.81% |
| CAGR | -57.73% | -46.83% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.09 | -0.89 | |
| Max drawdown | 74.07% | 57.83% | |
| Max daily drop | 25.49% | 14.72% | |
| Max wkly drop | 28.24% | 21.59% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +17.84% | -83.40% |
| CAGR | +3.34% | -30.20% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.31 | -0.41 | |
| Max drawdown | 83.35% | 87.19% | |
| Max daily drop | 25.49% | 16.67% | |
| Max wkly drop | 31.98% | 24.37% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +8.85% | -86.67% |
| CAGR | +1.69% | -31.19% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.29 | -0.41 | |
| Max drawdown | 83.35% | 91.22% | |
| Max daily drop | 25.49% | 16.67% | |
| Max wkly drop | 31.98% | 24.53% |
| Category | DUOL | COUR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Duolingo, Inc. | Coursera, Inc. |
| Sector | Online Education | Online Education |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Duolingo operates a gamified language-learning app with a large global user base, monetizing primarily through subscriptions and, to a lesser extent, advertising and in-app purchases. | Coursera operates an online learning platform offering courses, certificates, and degrees in partnership with universities and industry organizations, serving individual learners, enterprises, and academic institutions. |
| Investor focus | Watch daily and monthly active user growth, subscriber conversion rates, and progress expanding beyond language learning into new subjects. | Watch growth across its Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees segments, as well as progress toward sustained profitability. |
- Large, highly engaged global user base driven by gamified app design
- Strong subscription revenue growth and improving monetization per user
- Expanding product offerings beyond language learning, including math and literacy
- Diversified revenue base spanning individual consumers, enterprise, and university partners
- Established content partnerships with well-known universities and companies
- Positioned to benefit from demand for professional upskilling and credentialing
- Valuation reflects high growth expectations, raising sensitivity to any deceleration
- User growth and engagement trends can be volatile quarter to quarter
- Competitive pressure from other language-learning and AI-driven education tools
- Slower revenue growth relative to some other online education and consumer app peers
- Profitability has been inconsistent as the company invests in growth
- Competitive market for online learning content and enterprise training platforms
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