TripAdvisor ($TRIP) has had a rough few years. Over a five-year timeframe, shares have plummeted more than 63%, putting the Massachusetts-based online booker far behind market benchmarks like the S&P 500 over that span. When TripAdvisor reports earnings after the bell on February 12, analysts will be looking for EPS $0.20. 

And, now, new alternative data signals may be giving investors covering the e-booking titan new agita. Job postings at TripAdvisor have declined more than 42% from their 2019 peak, according to data. 

One of the areas TripAdvisor looks to be making the most cutbacks in job postings is focused on tech-centric roles. It's reducing job postings for engineers by about 66%, and by 79% for data & analytics pros. Other data (not shown) reflects a reduction in marketing job postings - but a rise in sales job postings, which has been a source of strength at earlier-stage startups.

Finally, a look at TripAdvisor's Facebook ($FB) Talking About Count, or, how often consumers are mentioning the e-booker on the social network. And, again, we're seeing a continuing decline over a sustained timeframe, which is a negative sign for any e-commerce company primarily dependent on the web for sales.

Then again, TripAdvisor isn't the only company apparently getting a little less bang for its buck on social media - Pepsi ($PEP) has seen years of declining chatter on Facebook for its Super Bowl ads - but it keeps coming back and making more of them. 

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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