Gold has soared over the last six weeks. I never thought about its impact on manufacturing because I have believed gold is a very minor component of any production process. However, over at Marvell Technology (MRVL), high gold prices are squeezing margins enough to make the company plan switching to copper. From Seeking Alpha transcripts of MRVL’s earnings call on August 18:
“The price of gold has increased from about $1,200 per ounce a year ago, to over $1,700 today. This has eroded our gross margin by about 1.5% in that period. We are transitioning to copper, but this will take some time.”
MRVL also noted that foundry prices have fallen more slowly than expected, and the company is looking for new fabs with better pricing.
Author disclosure: long GLD and GG