What is an income statement waterfall?

An income statement waterfall is a bar chart that walks from total revenue down to net income, with each step showing how much a cost or tax line removes (or adds). Subtotals — gross profit, operating income, pre-tax income — are anchored to zero so the cascade reconciles exactly to the bottom line.

How much of Duolingo (DUOL) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Duolingo turned $1.1B of revenue into $422M of net income — a net margin of 38.4%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are Duolingo (DUOL) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Duolingo reported a gross margin of 72.1%, an operating margin of 14.8%, and a net margin of 38.4%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does Duolingo (DUOL) have such a high (or low) gross margin?

Gross margin (gross profit ÷ revenue) reflects how much of each revenue dollar remains after direct production costs. Capital-light software and platform businesses often show gross margins above 60–80% because their cost of revenue is mainly hosting and support. Hardware, retail, and commodity businesses show lower gross margins because raw materials and manufacturing costs are significant. The waterfall makes this visible at a glance — the size of the "Cost of Revenue" bar relative to Revenue is the gross margin complement.

What is the difference between gross, operating, and net margin?

Gross margin = (Revenue − Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. It measures production efficiency. Operating margin = Operating Income ÷ Revenue. It adds operating expenses (R&D, S&M, G&A) and measures the profitability of core operations. Net margin = Net Income ÷ Revenue. It also includes interest, other income/expense, and taxes, and represents the shareholder take after everything.

Duolingo (DUOL) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$1.1B

Gross Margin

+72.1%

Operating Margin

+14.8%

Net Margin

+38.4%

Income statement waterfall for Duolingo (DUOL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Net income: $422M

Margin breakdown for Duolingo (DUOL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$1.1B	$1.1B
Cost of Revenue	-$306M	$793M
Gross Profit	$793M	$793M
Operating Expenses	-$630M	$162M
Operating Income	$162M	$162M
Other Income / Expense	$40.5M	$203M
Pre-tax Income	$203M	$203M
Tax Benefit	$219M	$422M
Net Income	$422M	$422M

Revenue$1.1B
Cost of Revenue-$306M
Gross Profit$793M
Operating Expenses-$630M
Operating Income$162M
Other Income / Expense$40.5M
Pre-tax Income$203M
Tax Benefit$219M
Net Income$422M

Want to see what changed vs last year?Profit Bridge

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Duolingo (DUOL) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

DUOL Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

Buybacks0.53% TTM

How this company returns cash to shareholders — buybacks, dividends, and stock splits.

Forecast & Valuation