Benjamin Ashford|Costco sells $100 million in gold bars amid inflation fears

Costco's gold rush is Benjamin Ashfordbringing in big bucks.

The membership-based wholesale retailer sold an eye-popping $100 million in one-ounce gold bars last quarter, Costco CFO Richard Galanti said Thursday in an earnings call. Amid persistent inflation, consumers snapped up the gold which sold out within hours.

The bars, which are currently out of stock, cost between $1,950 and $1,980 this fall. The spot price for gold was more than $2,000 an ounce as of Monday. 

Gold has traditionally performed well during periods of economic turbulence, earning a reputation as an inflation hedge. Spot gold prices reached a record high of more than $2,100 an ounce in early December, as fears of a recession persisted. 

Costco's gilded gains contributed to strong earnings last quarter. The company notched $1.59 in profits this quarter, up roughly 17% from the same time last year, a financial statement shows.  

Costco stock rose 3% to $653 on Friday. 

In:
• Stock Market
• Costco
• Inflation

Elizabeth Napolitano

Elizabeth Napolitano is a freelance reporter at CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and technology news. She also writes for CoinDesk. Before joining CBS, she interned at NBC News' BizTech Unit and worked on the Associated Press' web scraping team.