The old tree is sprouting new buds, can AI help?

"Investor Network" Wang Jianfan.

In recent years, the vigorous development in the field of artificial intelligence has attracted wide attention from the capital markets. In this wave, the capital market has staged a rather dramatic "father-daughter drama".

A company specializing in financial technology services - Sunyard Technology (600571.SH) unexpectedly became the market focus. The company's stock price has fluctuated several times along with the popularity of the AI concept.

However, the key factor leading to the fluctuations in Sunyard Technology's stock price is not due to changes in the company's own business, but rather stems from the company's actual controller, Guo Huaqiang's daughter, Guo Wenjing.

As the core founder of the popular Silicon Valley AI startup Pika, she unexpectedly became the link between Sunyard Technology and the AI craze. This association has also led the market to label Sunyard Technology as a "daughter concept stock".

However, there is actually no substantive connection between the company and Pika. Previously, Sunyard Technology issued a "Clarification Announcement Regarding Media Reports" stating: 'Pika's co-founder, Guo Wenjing, is the daughter of Mr. Guo Huaqiang, the company's actual controller. Apart from this relationship, the company has no other association with Pika.'

Guo Huaqiang's entrepreneurial journey

Sunyard Technology's development trajectory is closely linked to the career of its founder, Guo Huaqiang.

In 1956, Guo Huaqiang was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. In 1984, when personal computers were not yet popular in China, Guo Huaqiang had already started getting involved in computer software development, becoming one of the earliest pioneers in IT in China. At that time, he was also a section-level cadre at the Zhejiang branch of China Industrial and Commercial Bank.

This experience allowed him to accumulate valuable banking information system technical expertise. In 1986, Guo Huaqiang completed his undergraduate studies in finance through the TV and Radio University.

In 1991, at the beginning of the second stage of China's reform and opening up, the 35-year-old Guo Huaqiang stood at a crossroads in life and resolutely resigned from his banking job to establish Hangzhou Nantian Financial Computer Company. This decision marked the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.

The road to entrepreneurship was not smooth. In 1993, Guo Huaqiang and his partners founded Sing Lee Software, seemingly ushering in a new chapter in their careers. However, just a year later, the company faced a major crisis: managers from 8 departments resigned, with most of them later becoming founders of Hundsun Technologies Inc.

Faced with these challenges, Guo Huaqiang decided to refocus his energy on the banking IT field he was most familiar with. In 1994, Nantian Financial was renamed as Sunyard Technology.

After years of development, on November 1, 2002, Sunyard Technology was listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company's business gradually expanded, and by 2014, its annual net income exceeded 0.1 billion yuan. In June 2015, Sunyard Technology's stock price reached a historical high of 104 yuan/share. It was also the year when Guo Huaqiang's second daughter, Guo Wenjing, was admitted to Harvard University.

However, the market is ever-changing. After 2015, the growth rate of Sunyard Technology's net income began to slow down, showing signs of reaching a bottleneck.

From sluggish growth to unsuccessful transformation.

Sunyard Technology's development trajectory experienced a significant turning point after 2015.

As the core business of the company, banking IT software, especially channel-related business, began to face market pressure. With the intervention of internet giants and the improvement of banks' self-developed capabilities, service supply increased, leading to intensified market competition. This change directly impacted the company's performance, and the growth rate began to slow down.

Faced with the situation of sluggish performance growth, Sunyard Technology began a series of transformation attempts.

In 2015, the company acquired 75% equity of Shanghai Kejian Information for 0.323 billion yuan, triggering significant controversy due to a premium of up to 0.251 billion yuan. Kejian Information was only established two years ago and had not yet shown ideal profitability. As of the end of August 2014, it was still in a loss-making state. Despite signing a performance-based agreement, Kejian Information's performance did not meet expectations. In 2015 and 2016, Kejian Information barely met performance commitments, but in 2017, it incurred a loss of 52.811 million yuan.

This failed acquisition dealt a heavy blow to Sunyard Technology. In 2017, due to a high impairment of goodwill, Sunyard Technology incurred its first loss since 2008, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of 0.209 billion yuan. In addition, Kejian Information failed to fulfill its performance compensation commitments, leading to litigation between the two parties.

It is worth mentioning that in 2016, Sunyard Technology attempted to enter the commodity trading industry, planning to acquire 80% equity of Jinwang Antai for 0.96 billion yuan, but this acquisition ultimately failed.

The successive failures seem to have shaken the company's strategic direction. Starting from 2019, Sunyard Technology has shifted to large-scale investment activities.

At the same time, the actions of the company's actual controller Guo Huaqiang have attracted the market's attention. After all, faced with the uncertainty of enterprise transformation and development, "securing the bag" seems to be a better choice.

During this period, Guo Huaqiang continued to reduce his shareholding in Sunyard Technology. He reduced 4.3 million shares at the end of 2018, reduced 4.06 million shares in 2019, reduced 3.4 million shares in 2020, and reduced 4.6 million shares in 2023. In June and August 2024, Guo Huaqiang reduced his shareholding twice again, cashing out approximately 21.44 million yuan.

Cross-border AI, jumping on the bandwagon or taking a different approach?

In fact, although the original business is far from AI, Sunyard Technology's connection with AI can be traced back to 2019, earlier than the current global trend of large models.

In 2019, the company embarked on an AI+ strategy and launched a new generation of AI+ intelligent outbound calling robots at China Zheshang Bank the following year. However, these early AI attempts did not bring significant growth momentum to the company.

Despite the company's previous clarification that there is no business relationship with the AI company Pika founded by the second daughter Guo Wenjing, Sunyard Technology's recent series of actions, with a "say one thing and do another" attitude, seem to imply a great interest in the AI field.

At the end of 2023, the company officially announced a comprehensive layout in the AI field, measures include establishing a large model task force, strategically investing in Baichuan Intelligence, building a large model laboratory, and launching the first LLM native product. These series of initiatives outline Sunyard Technology's commitment to deeply integrating AI with the financial business.

In early 2024, Sunyard Technology's AI strategy became more aggressive. Chairman Geng Junling declared "ALL IN AI" in a high-profile manner at the annual strategic conference, establishing two new AI-native companies and emphasizing the acceleration of AI technology and product implementation. This statement undoubtedly showcases the company's determination and expectations in the AI field.

In the wave of AI approaching, the transformation path of sunyard technology is still unknown. The challenges the company faces are not only how to organically integrate AI technology with traditional financial IT business, but also how to redefine its own value in this AI revolution. Regardless of the outcome, sunyard technology's AI journey will become a microcosm of the transformation of traditional IT companies in China, and "Investor Network" will continue to pay attention. (Produced by mindset finance)■