Don't look now, but TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) is getting hot again. The online travel site's stock has soared 65% since bottoming out six months ago. The recovery has been gradual but steady. TripAdvisor stock has moved higher in four of this year's first five months. The shares hit another fresh 52-week high earlier this week.

Long-term investors aren't handing out high fives. The stock has shed more than half of its value since peaking four years ago. The shares soared 27% last week after TripAdvisor stepped up to post better-than-expected quarterly results, but crack open the hood, and this travel engine isn't firing on all cylinders.

IMAGE SOURCE: TRIPADVISOR.

Passing ships

Revenue rose a mere 1.6% in TripAdvisor's first quarter, and while analysts were holding out for a small decline on the top line, it's still a pretty pathetic showing for a company hitting new highs following that report. TripAdvisor has now gone 10 consecutive quarters without posting double-digit percentage growth in revenue.

The news gets better on the other end of the income statement, but even that isn't so rosy once framed in the proper context. Adjusted earnings rose 20% to $0.30 per share -- nearly double what Wall Street pros were targeting -- but it's still less than the $0.33 per share that it scored as a profit for the first quarter of 2016 and the $0.43 per share in adjusted net income it served up the year before that.

TripAdvisor's business is stuck. Its flagship hotel business that accounts for 79% of its revenue continues to decline, including a 10% slide in click-based revenue for the period. The platform remains attractive to visitors researching getaways. It's reaching 433 million average monthly unique visitors, 12% ahead of last year's audience. Revenue isn't keeping pace with usage, so monetization remains a challenge.