Uber’s stock is set to join the S&P 500 index later this month, the latest sign that the ride-hailing and delivery company is turning its business around after struggling through much of the pandemic.

The San Francisco company will be added to the benchmark index prior to the opening of regular trading on Dec. 18, S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Friday.

Inclusion in the S&P 500 can be a big boost for a stock because the index is widely tracked by many funds designed to mirror the holdings of the S&P 500, which is at the heart of many 401(k) accounts. That translates into more demand for stocks in the index, driving up their price.

Shares in Uber Technologies Inc. rose 2% Monday to close at $58.63. That’s not far from their all-time high of $63.18 per share set in February 2021. The stock is up more than twofold so far this year.

The strong rally marks a major turnaround from as recently as the summer of 2022, when the stock was at $20.46.

Spotify axes 17% of workforce

Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable.

In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were being cut as part of a “strategic reorientation.” The post didn’t specify how many employees would lose their jobs, but a spokesperson confirmed that it amounts to about 1,500 people.

Spotify had used cheap financing to expand the business and “invested significantly” in employees, content and marketing in 2020 and 2021, the blog post said.

But Ek indicated that the company was caught out as central banks started hiking interest rates last year, which can slow economic growth. Both are posing a challenge, he said.