News

As Tim Cook steps down, Apple hit record sales — but a chip shortage looms

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1 minute ago

May 1, 2026

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Tim cook iphone GettyImages 2234563479.jpg

Apple reported a record quarter on Thursday. Yet outgoing CEO Tim Cook warned of some gathering storm clouds in the form of memory chip supply issues that could impact business in the near future.

“Today Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment,” Cook said during Thursday’s earnings call. “iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup.”

Less rosily, Cook relayed that Apple spent more on memory chips in March than in previous quarters though the company’s costs were offset by its ability to sell stockpiled inventory. But, he warned, the expectation is “significantly higher memory costs” in June and beyond — the likes of which may “drive an increasing impact” on the business.

Cook was referencing what has commonly been called “RAMaggedon,” the trend of the AI industry guzzling up memory chips with such astonishing gusto it is spurring shortages. This is driving up the prices of hardware. Apple is primarily a hardware company, so that’s obviously not great news for its core products.

Most notably, the chip shortage has impacted the iPhone. Despite the strong sales figures touted by Apple on Thursday, it has previously been reported that RAM costs have quadrupled — impacting phone production costs, and putting John Ternus, Apple’s incoming CEO in a less-than-enviable position.

One possible result may be that Apple increases prices for the iPhone. “There’s just a little less flexibility in the supply chain at the moment for getting more parts,” Cook told Reuters on Thursday.

Ternus, who has served as Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, was on Thursday’s earnings call and praised Cook. “In my view, Tim is one of the greatest business leaders of all time. Stepping into the role of CEO is an incredible honor, and it means a great deal to me to have Tim’s trust and confidence,” Ternus said.

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He will obviously have his work cut out for him when he begins the job on September 1. But he will still have Cook’s supply chain experience to lean on for a while. Cook will become executive chairman.

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Business

Lafarge Africa Plc Posts N97.95bn Profit, Up 101% in Q1 2026

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2 hours ago

April 30, 2026

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BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The Board of Directors of Lafarge Africa Plc has reported a strong financial performance for the first quarter of 2026, with Profit After Tax (PAT) rising to N97.95 billion—representing a 101 per cent increase from N48.64 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

The company also recorded significant growth in revenue, with net sales climbing by 35 per cent to N334.88 billion in Q1 2026, compared to N248.35 billion in the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, attributed the strong performance to sustained revenue growth, improved operational efficiency, and disciplined cost management.

“Our Q1 2026 results reflect continued progress in executing our strategic priorities. Net sales grew by 35 per cent year-on-year, supported by improved volumes, enhanced plant stability, and greater distribution efficiency. Operating profit rose by 97 per cent to N141 billion, while profit after tax increased by 101 per cent to N98 billion,” he said.

He added that the performance was driven by supply reliability, prudent financial management, and an improved route-to-market strategy.

Alade-Akinyemi noted that the company will continue to leverage the industrial and technical expertise of its strategic partner, Huaxin Building Materials Ltd, to further optimise operations and unlock additional efficiencies.

Looking ahead, he said the company would maintain a strong focus on disciplined capital deployment, cost control, and capturing growth opportunities across its markets. He added that improving macroeconomic conditions and easing global supply chain disruptions have supported rising consumer demand and volume growth.

“We anticipate continued expansion in Nigeria’s infrastructure and construction sectors, driven by improving economic fundamentals and demand across key segments. We remain focused on capturing these opportunities while maintaining cost optimisation to protect margins,” he stated.

He also expressed appreciation to customers and stakeholders for their continued support, reaffirming the company’s commitment to delivering consistent performance and long-term value.

“Our sustainability-led growth model remains central to our long-term value creation, supported by disciplined execution and operational excellence,” he added.

Lafarge Africa Plc said it will continue to prioritise supply reliability, cost leadership, innovation, and sustainability, while maintaining high standards in health and safety across its operations.

About Lafarge Africa Plc

Lafarge Africa Plc, a member of the Huaxin Group, is a leading provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions in Nigeria. Established in 1959 and listed on the Premium Board of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the company operates cement plants in Sagamu and Ewekoro (Ogun State), Ashaka (Gombe State), and Mfamosing (Cross River State), with a total installed production capacity of 10.5 million metric tonnes per annum. It remains committed to sustainable development, combining industrial efficiency with environmental responsibility and stakeholder value creation.

The post Lafarge Africa Plc Posts N97.95bn Profit, Up 101% in Q1 2026 appeared first on Business Today NG.

News

Legal AI startup Legora hits $5.6B valuation and its battle with Harvey just got hotter

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2026

Preport

Nvidia has laid a new brick in its AI empire. NVentures, its corporate VC fund, has backed Legora, reportedly its first legal AI investment.

Leveraging AI to help lawyers streamline their work, the Swedish-born legal tech startup is competing with U.S. player Harvey.

Alongside Atlassian and other new financial investors, NVentures joined Legora’s cap table as part of a $50 million Series D extension that comes a month after the startup’s $550 million Series D.

In the interval, this Y Combinator alum crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) — a milestone that contributed to its new $5.6 billion post-money valuation.

This brings Legora’s valuation just a tad closer to Harvey’s, which reached $11 billion last month when Sequoia tripled down on its investment. Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Conviction Partners, Elad Gil, Matt Miller’s Evantic, and Kleiner Perkins also participated in that round.

Legora, too, is backed by high-profile VCs, but it puts even more emphasis on the big names it secured as clients, such as Bird & Bird, Cleary Gottlieb, and Linklaters. According to the company, the platform it launched only 18 months ago is now used by more than 1,000 law firms and in-house legal teams across 50 markets.

Harvey has game in that area too. It claims 100,000 lawyers across 1,300 organizations as customers, ranging from global law firms like Hengeler Mueller and Latham & Watkins to corporate legal teams at companies like T-Mobile and Bridgewater.

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With global leadership as the end goal, the Harvey v. Legora rivalry is one they intend to play on each other’s home turf. Legora has opened multiple offices around the world with the U.S. a key focus for its expansion. Conversely, Harvey is pushing into Europe.

With plenty of capital to spend on both sides, that battle has moved to mindshare. Not long after Winston Weinberg’s company Harvey signed a brand partnership with actor Gabriel Macht, who plays a high-powered lawyer in the TV series “Suits,” Legora launched an advertising campaign featuring movie star Jude Law under the slogan “Law just got more attractive.”

Both companies may be right to bet heavily on marketing. Rivalry aside, they are built on top of large language models made by AI giants that could well become their competitors. When Anthropic launched a legal plug-in for Claude not long ago, several publicly listed legal software companies saw their stocks drop.

Legora CEO Max Junestrand says he isn’t concerned.

“Foundation models are improving quickly, but the real value is in how they’re applied,” he wrote in a statement. It also shows how the startup instills FOMO among its target users, stating that “the legal teams that embed AI effectively today will shape how the industry evolves.”

NVentures’ investment is also a signal that Legora might have enough of a moat to protect them from the model makers, and its bigger rival.

However, Nvidia is also known for hedging its bets — after all, it invested in both Anthropic and OpenAI before deciding it has probably had enough.

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