Aug 16 Reuters Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems39; CEO talked up market share wins and artificial intelligence AI opportunities, as he moved to allay fears over slowing growth after a disappointing annual revenue forecast.

The remarks helped the company39;s shares reverse course in extended trading to rise more than 2 on Wednesday. But the stock has underperformed a broader market rally this year with an 11 rise, dogged by worries that a cloud spending slowdown would hit orders.

Cisco forecast fullyear revenue to be between 57 billion and 58.20 billion, below the Refinitiv estimate of 58.38 billion. Rival Juniper also offered a weak forecast last month.

But Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said the company had gained more than 3 percentage points of market share in its three largest networking markets in the first quarter and expects more share gains in these areas.

He also said the company was likely to be a leading supplier of the networking gear needed for AI workloads. This is a huge opportunity for Cisco.

Major cloud providers, including Microsoft, have recently unveiled plans to increase spending on servers that power AI services, in a potential boost for suppliers of networking hardware such as switches and routers.

Cisco, whose customers include telecom firm ATT and auto retailer AutoNation, also reported fourthquarter revenue of 15.20 billion, beating the estimate of 15.05 billion.

The company, benefiting from easing supply chain hurdles, has tried to…