Investors in Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Roche (RHHBY) were left nursing a headache today as its stock dropped on plans to scrap global diversity leadership targets.
Ditching Diversity
According to a Bloomberg report, Roche is ditching a long-term goal of creating a diverse leadership that better reflects its workforce in terms of females and people from under-represented nationalities. In an email seen by Bloomberg this goal will now be replaced in both its U.S. and global offices by a statement that the company will seek to “foster an inclusive environment that inspires people to perform at their best.” Diversity is not mentioned under the new remit.
Its targets included having half of its leaders and 40% of global executives be women, but this and other targets related to nationalities will now fall away.
Changes Going Global
Roche said it had taken the decision to avoid penalties as a result of the U.S. Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which emerged after President Trump took office back in January. It also wanted to ensure that Roche “can continue to deliver medicines and diagnostic solutions to patients.”
Roche said that the changes needed to also take effect outside of the U.S. “because our global programs and goals can have an impact on our U.S. organizations if we are not compliant under the new law.”
It is safe to say that President Trump is not a fan of DEI, having described it variously as “illegal”, “immoral” and a “hoax.” He has also threatened potential investigations into companies which practice it.
Roche’s decision follows the move by Swiss bank UBS (UBS) this week to ditch references to establishing women in management roles and hiring employees from ethnic minority backgrounds from its 2024 annual report. A number of U.S. firms have also scaled back on their DEI plans including Target (TGT), Meta Platforms (META) and Walmart (WMT). What the moves from Roche and UBS show however is how this new U.S. DEI policy stance has the power to cross borders and even continents.
Is RHHBY a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, RHHBY has a Hold consensus based on 2 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $43. RHHBY stock’s consensus price target is $42 implying an 4.68% downside.
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