Costco Wholesale got into precious metals sales last year with gold bars and, according to a Tuesday research note from Wells Fargo, those may have picked up quite a bit since then.
In the note, Wells Fargo equity analyst Edward Kelly wrote Costco’s sales of gold and silver "seem to have grown considerably" since then-CFO Richard Galanti announced in mid-December the retailer had "sold over $100 million of gold during the [first] quarter."
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Costco reporting it had made $100 million in gold sales, came after Galanti had previously said the 1-ounce bars were going shockingly fast when uploaded on the retailer’s website.
It launched its offering of gold bars in the fall. More recently, the wholesale retailer delved into silver, putting tubes of 1-ounce Canada Maple Leaf Silver Coins up for sale online, as FOX Business reported last month.
The research note from Wells Fargo’s Kelly estimated sales of those precious metals "may now be running at $100-200m per month, which would add almost 1% to total comps, slightly more to US comps, and about 3% to gen. merch. sales."
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The gold and silver sales are likely "a very low profit business at best" due to Costco’s pricing strategy for the metals and shipping costs, according to the note.
Wells Fargo pointed to a few factors as indicators of the possible "sharp uptick in momentum" since the gold bars and silver coins debuted. They included the "accelerating frequency of Reddit posts, quick on-line sell-outs of product, and COST’s robust monthly eComm sales," according to the research note.
Second-quarter e-commerce sales "showed strength in several areas, led by sales of gold and very recently silver," the company said in early March. Costco saw an 18.4% year-over-year increase in its second-quarter comparable e-commerce sales.
The retailer has said its e-commerce operation "provides a broader selection of merchandise that complements our warehouses." Generally, it has a roughly 4,000-item in-store selection.
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In the second quarter, the company generated $58.44 billion in total revenue. Its net income, meanwhile, came in at $1.74 billion.
Its footprint of warehouses includes 875 locations around the world.
