If you're currently looking for some ASX tech shares to add to your portfolio, then you might want to take a look at the ones listed below.
Here's why these ASX tech shares come highly rated right now:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The first ASX tech share to look at is Appen. It is the global leader in the development of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence. Appen works closely with some of the biggest tech companies in the world and has a strong position in the government sector through its Figure Eight business.
The Appen share price has underperformed recently after it revealed that COVID-19 headwinds were impacting demand. However, management appears confident that these impacts will be short term and expects its customers to start increasing their investment in machine learning and artificial intelligence again once the worst of the pandemic passes.
This could make now an opportune time to make a patient buy and hold investment in the company's shares. Citi certainly believes this to be the case. It currently has a buy rating and $32.60 price target on its shares.
The broker believes that Appen is well-positioned to benefit from the expected increase in spending on artificial intelligence. It also sees opportunities for the company to expand its total addressable market.
Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)
Another ASX tech share to look at is Whispir. It is a growing software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider operating in the Workflow Communications Platform as a Service market which has been tipped to be worth US$8 billion per year by 2024.
Whispir's platform automates communications between businesses and their workers and customers. This allows users to improve their communications through automated workflows that ensure stakeholders receive accurate, timely, useful, and actionable insights.
The company has experienced very strong demand for its platform over the last 12 months, leading to some impressive annualised recurring revenue (ARR) growth.
This has continued in FY 2021, with Whispir recently releasing a very strong second quarter update. For the period ending 31 December, the company's ARR grew 29.2% over the prior corresponding period to $47.4 million. This was also an 8.5% increase on its first quarter ARR.
Late last year Wilsons put an overweight rating and $5.10 price target on the company's shares. This compares to the latest Whispir share price of $4.13.
