Matthew Skaruppa on profitability
From $DUOL Duolingo Q3 2025 Earnings Conference Call · · EARNMOAR
“We've shown that we can scale the business and operate with discipline and expand margins, and we're guiding to a 29% adjusted EBITDA margin for the year; at the same time we're not going to be afraid to invest in innovation given the size of the opportunity.”
On , Matthew Skaruppa, Chief Financial Officer at DUOLINGO INC, spoke about profitability during $DUOL Duolingo Q3 2025 Earnings Conference Call on EARNMOAR.
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.