Matthew Skaruppa on gross margin
From Duolingo Q2 2025 Earnings Call | Q2 2025 Earnings Conference Call | Q2 2025 Results · · Investing 101
“I don't think the web-based checkout will drive very much change in gross margin in the back half of the year. The drivers we saw in Q2 were that we outperformed our expectations on gross margin because AI costs overall did come down — lower API/token costs — and we have a lot of data now that says that trend is likely to stay intact and is reflected in the guide.”
On , Matthew Skaruppa, Chief Financial Officer at DUOLINGO INC, spoke about gross margin during Duolingo Q2 2025 Earnings Call | Q2 2025 Earnings Conference Call | Q2 2025 Results on Investing 101.
About Matthew Skaruppa
Matthew Skaruppa, Duolingo’s chief financial officer, has described his role as one of “translation” between the company’s product-focused culture and the expectations of public-market investors. He stated that his initial task was to prepare the company for its initial public offering, and that he has since worked to align CEO Luis von Ahn’s vision with investor perspectives. Skaruppa has said that understanding the “hopes and fears” of the CEO is critical for a CFO, and that the job involves frequent context-switching and a systems-oriented approach. On earnings calls in 2025, Skaruppa discussed the company’s financial performance, noting that Duolingo beat its bookings guidance in the second and third quarters. He attributed some of the outperformance to foreign exchange and advertising revenue, and said that AI-related costs had come down due to lower API and token expenses, a trend he expected to continue. Skaruppa also addressed user growth, stating that the company does not typically guide on daily active users but had done so in a prior quarter to manage expectations around unusual campaign effects. He emphasized that Duolingo aims to maximize “platform LTV” and that the company is willing to invest in innovation given the size of its opportunity. In a separate interview, Skaruppa said he believes the CFO role will evolve over the next decade as manual tasks become automated, freeing finance leaders to focus on high-level strategic thinking.