On September 28, Duolingo, Inc. fell 5.04% in regular trading, trading at approximately $136.00 per share, with turnover of $19.10 million. The decline was driven by an escalating consumer trust crisis surrounding the company's subscription billing practices.
Multiple users have reported being charged 738 yuan in annual fees after signing up for a 7-day free trial on the Duolingo app, with refund requests reportedly denied or handled inconsistently. Complaint platform data shows cumulative complaints against Duolingo have exceeded 4,000, landing the company on a service blacklist for auto-charge issues. Customer service stated that users agree to an automatic renewal agreement when opting into the free trial, with fees applied if the subscription is not canceled within the trial period. Legal experts noted that operators are obligated to provide prominent reminders before charging.
The controversy has compounded negative sentiment following earlier reports that CEO Luis von Ahn cleared all of his directly held Class A shares. While multiple investment banks — including Evercore ISI, D.A. Davidson, UBS, and JPMorgan — have recently raised their price targets on the stock, the billing dispute and insider selling have weighed heavily on near-term investor confidence.
(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)