What happened Travel-booking platform Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) gained 32% through the first half of 2017, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The rally sent shares to new all-time highs amid a rebounding global vacation industry. Data is through the first six months of the year. EXPE data by YCharts. So what Investors have bid up the stock in response to steady improvements in Expedia's operating trends. The company announced in early February that gross bookings spiked 19% in 2016. Profitability expanded, meanwhile, as expenses grew at a slower pace than revenue. That allowed adjusted net income to soar 40% higher for the year. Image source: Getty Images. Expedia kicked off its 2017 year on a solid note, too, with bookings rising by 14% and adjusted earnings improving 18%. There are many contributing factors to the company's growth pace, including rising lodging and air travel revenue from the core business and spiking advertising sales from the trivago segment. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a conference call with investors in May that this mix of complementary businesses, in addition to smart capital allocation, has yielded "an effective formula for long-term value creation." Now what In the same chat, Khosrowshahi and his team cautioned that it was still early in the year and competition remains motivated to steal market share wherever possible. However, executives still see sales rising at a healthy clip in 2017 with adjusted earnings trailing that pace slightly due to heavy spending on cloud services. Expedia is set to post its second-quarter results on July 27, and consensus estimates are targeting 16% sales growth as earnings jump to $0.93 per share from $0.83 per share a year ago. 10 stocks we like better than ExpediaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Expedia wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.