TELUS International Snaps Up Playment

TELUS International (TIXT) announced that it acquired Playment to bolster its leadership position in the growing international data annotation market. The financial terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

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Founded in 2015, India-based Playment is a leader in data annotation services, including AI strategy consulting. It also provides a SaaS-based platform that offers computer vision tools and various other services.

TELUS is the provider of multilingual digital customer experiences and digital IT solutions to clients internationally.

The addition of Playment will enhance TELUS’s computer vision and deep domain capabilities. Furthermore, the acquisition will strengthen TELUS’s position against its peers in the technology innovation market across various industry verticals. (See TIXT stock chart on TipRanks)

TELUS CEO Jeff Puritt commented, “As one of the key enabling technologies for today’s advanced AI applications, computer vision is among the most revolutionary technologies of our generation with applications across every sector of the economy.”

He further added, “The technology has become increasingly valuable to tech firms and the wider market as brands seek to uncover solutions for scenarios that typically require complex human judgement from visual and spatial patterns to solve nuanced business challenges, and build innovative, market-leading smart products and services.”

According to a study by MarketsandMarkets, the computer vision market is expected to treble in five years from $16 billion currently to over $50 billion by 2026.

Robert W. Baird analyst David Koning recently maintained a Hold rating and the price target of $34 (7.2% upside potential) on the stock.

Koning expects TELUS International to report earnings of $0.01 per share for the second quarter of 2021.

Overall, the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 3 Buys and 3 Hold. The average Telus International price target of $35.33 implies 11.4% upside potential from current levels.