The research report from CITIC Securities indicates that the idea of 'AI supplanting software' is gradually being debunked. At present, prominent software vendors are sustaining robust growth in both revenue and backlog orders. This suggests that the underlying fundamentals of application software have not undergone the structural slowdown that the market had previously anticipated with apprehension. Concurrently, model vendors are propelling the deployment of enterprise-level applications by integrating AI into established workflows, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), IT Service Management (ITSM), and Human Capital Management (HCM). The data, industry expertise, and customer service capabilities of traditional software vendors continue to be their primary competitive edges. In the near term, the growing trend of model homogenization and the increasing share of AI revenue for software companies are anticipated to persist in propelling valuation recovery within the U.S.-listed software sector. In the medium term, the sector's ability to transition from valuation recovery to a sustained upward trajectory will hinge on whether AI products can catalyze a rebound in the overall revenue growth of software companies, with the upcoming 1 to 2 quarters marking a crucial observation window.
