COUR: Raised 2026 guidance, accelerated AI-driven growth, and expanded global content and partnerships

Looking back on consumer subscription stocks’ Q3 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including Coursera and its peers.

Consumers today expect goods and services to be hyper-personalized and on demand. Whether it be what music they listen to, what movie they watch, or even finding a date, online consumer businesses are expected to delight their customers with simple user interfaces that magically fulfill demand. Subscription models have further increased usage and stickiness of many online consumer services.

The 8 consumer subscription stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.3% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 15.5% since the latest earnings results.

Coursera

Founded by two Stanford University computer science professors, Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses, specializations, and degrees from top universities and organizations around the world.

Coursera reported revenues of $194.2 million, up 10.3% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.1%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

“We delivered a strong third quarter, driven by 13% year-over-year revenue growth in our Consumer segment. As individuals increasingly seek the skills necessary to adapt and thrive in today’s evolving job market, we are strengthening Coursera’s position as the world’s trusted source for verified learning,” said Coursera CEO Greg Hart.

Coursera pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise of the whole group. The company reported 191 million active customers, up 17.8% year on year. Even though it had a relatively good quarter, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 0.6% since reporting and currently trades at $7.88.

Is now the time to buy Coursera? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: Roku

With a name meaning six in Japanese because it was the founder's sixth company that he started, Roku makes hardware players that offer access to various online streaming TV services.

Roku reported revenues of $1.21 billion, up 14% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. The business had a strong quarter with EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and full-year EBITDA guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.

However, the results were likely priced into the stock as it’s traded sideways since reporting. Shares currently sit at $93.59.

Is now the time to buy Roku? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: Bumble

Started by the co-founder of Tinder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble is a leading dating app built with women at the center.

Bumble reported revenues of $246.2 million, down 10% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a softer quarter as it posted a decline in its buyers and a significant miss of analysts’ number of paying users estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 36.3% since the results and currently trades at $3.46.

Read our full analysis of Bumble’s results here.

Duolingo

Founded by a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor and his Ph.D. student, Duolingo is a mobile app helping people learn new languages.

Duolingo reported revenues of $271.7 million, up 41.1% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 4.3%. Zooming out, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Duolingo scored the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 135.3 million users, up 19.6% year on year. The stock is down 34% since reporting and currently trades at $172.58.

Read our full, actionable report on Duolingo here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Chegg

Started as a physical textbook rental service, Chegg is now a digital platform addressing student pain points by providing study and academic assistance.

Chegg reported revenues of $77.74 million, down 43.1% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.9%. Taking a step back, it was a slower quarter as it recorded a decline in its users and a significant miss of analysts’ number of services subscribers estimates.

Chegg had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 2.18 million users, down 43% year on year. The stock is up 6.7% since reporting and currently trades at $0.95.

Read our full, actionable report on Chegg here, it’s free for active Edge members.

What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after comments from a key Federal Reserve official bolstered hopes for an interest rate cut. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams stated he sees “room for a further adjustment” in the near term, sparking a significant market rally. Following his remarks, the probability of the central bank cutting rates at its December meeting jumped from 39% to over 73%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. This positive sentiment provided relief to markets amid concerns over high valuations, particularly in AI-related stocks.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Consumer Subscription company Bumble jumped 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Bumble? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Consumer Subscription company Coursera jumped 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Coursera? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On Coursera (COUR)

Coursera’s shares are very volatile and have had 20 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 28 days ago when the stock dropped 12.9% on the news that its weak fourth-quarter profitability forecast overshadowed an otherwise strong third-quarter earnings report. The company surpassed market expectations for its third quarter, reporting revenue of $194.2 million and an adjusted EPS of $0.10, both beating analyst estimates. Additionally, Coursera's revenue guidance for the upcoming fourth quarter was better than expected at $191 million at the midpoint. However, investors focused on the company's weaker outlook for profitability. Coursera's guidance for fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA, a key measure of profitability, was $8.5 million at the midpoint, well below the consensus estimate of $10.17 million. This shortfall suggested potential pressure on margins, spooking investors and leading to a significant sell-off despite the positive top-line performance.

Coursera is down 3.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $8.17 per share, it is trading 35.7% below its 52-week high of $12.70 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Coursera’s shares at the IPO in March 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $181.56.

As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q3. Today, we are looking at consumer subscription stocks, starting with Duolingo .

Consumers today expect goods and services to be hyper-personalized and on demand. Whether it be what music they listen to, what movie they watch, or even finding a date, online consumer businesses are expected to delight their customers with simple user interfaces that magically fulfill demand. Subscription models have further increased usage and stickiness of many online consumer services.

The 8 consumer subscription stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.3% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 14.3% since the latest earnings results.

Duolingo

Founded by a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor and his Ph.D. student, Duolingo is a mobile app helping people learn new languages.

Duolingo reported revenues of $271.7 million, up 41.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 4.3%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Duolingo pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The company reported 135.3 million users, up 19.6% year on year. Even though it had a relatively good quarter, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 0.4% since reporting and currently trades at $176.04.

Is now the time to buy Duolingo? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: Roku

With a name meaning six in Japanese because it was the founder's sixth company that he started, Roku makes hardware players that offer access to various online streaming TV services.

Roku reported revenues of $1.21 billion, up 14% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. The business had a strong quarter with EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

However, the results were likely priced into the stock as it’s traded sideways since reporting. Shares currently sit at $93.79.

Is now the time to buy Roku? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: Bumble

Started by the co-founder of Tinder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble is a leading dating app built with women at the center.

Bumble reported revenues of $246.2 million, down 10% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a softer quarter as it posted a decline in its buyers.

As expected, the stock is down 36.9% since the results and currently trades at $3.43.

Read our full analysis of Bumble’s results here.

Netflix

Launched by Reed Hastings as a DVD mail rental company until its famous pivot to streaming in 2007, Netflix is a pioneering streaming content platform.

Netflix reported revenues of $11.51 billion, up 17.2% year on year. This result was in line with analysts’ expectations. However, it was a slower quarter as it recorded a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and revenue in line with analysts’ estimates.

Netflix had the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. The company reported 317.3 million users, up 12.2% year on year. The stock is down 11.1% since reporting and currently trades at $110.46.

Read our full, actionable report on Netflix here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Coursera

Founded by two Stanford University computer science professors, Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses, specializations, and degrees from top universities and organizations around the world.

Coursera reported revenues of $194.2 million, up 10.3% year on year. This number beat analysts’ expectations by 2.1%. Taking a step back, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

Coursera pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company reported 191 million active customers, up 17.8% year on year. The stock is down 21.6% since reporting and currently trades at $8.27.

Read our full, actionable report on Coursera here, it’s free for active Edge members.