Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL) experienced a sharp pre-market plunge of 22.86% on Friday, following a significant decline in post-market trading the previous day.

The language-learning platform announced a deliberate strategic pivot from maximizing monetization to prioritizing user growth and improving the free learner experience. This shift is expected to weigh heavily on near-term financial performance, with the company forecasting first-quarter bookings of approximately $301.5 million and full-year bookings between $1.27 billion and $1.30 billion, both notably below analyst estimates.

CEO Luis von Ahn stated that while this move aims to build a larger, more durable business in the long term by targeting 100 million daily active users, it will result in slower bookings growth—projected at about 11% for 2026 compared to a potential 20% under the previous approach—and lower profitability due to increased investment in AI and marketing. The company is also responding to a slowdown in daily active user growth and the competitive threat posed by artificial intelligence in language translation and learning.