For parents, dealing with the changing tastes of teenage children can be a bother. For K2 Inc., the Los Angeles company that produces everything from skateboarding shoes to scooters to fishing tackle, those whims are more problematic.

After the market was saturated with scooters and in-line skates over the last year and a half, a core piece of the company’s business bottomed out, causing K2’s earnings to take a beating.

The company reported net income for the second quarter ended June 30 of $2.3 million (13 cents per diluted share), a whopping 63 percent drop from the $6.3 million (35 cents) for the like period a year ago. Revenues fell to $144.9 million from $161.9 million.

Since that announcement after the close of trading on July 18, K2 shares have fallen 26 percent, from $11.80 to $8.79 on Aug. 8.

“It’s really difficult to manage your business when you’re exposed to so many different categories that have unpredictable growth trends and short life spans,” said Hayley Kissel, an analyst with Merrill Lynch Global Securities.

While the company reported increased sales in most categories, those gains were offset by the decline in small-wheeled products, a category that includes in-line skates and scooters.

John Rangel, K2’s senior vice president of finance, attributed the decline in in-line skates sales to poor weather conditions in North America and Europe. “The reality is the industry has missed an inventory turn and that’s going to have an impact,” he said.

Gloomy weather aside, Rangel said sales of in-line skates had been declining for nearly two years. “Weather has compounded the general trend,” he said. In-line skates are the company’s second largest source of revenues, led only by fishing tackle.

Faced with the product’s declining popularity, K2 has opted to shore up sales by introducing a new line of skates geared toward the higher-end market. At the same time, it will lower prices on its existing line in an attempt to stimulate sales. “We hope that this will help us grow in a shrinking market,” said Rangel.

The decline in scooter sales was, according to Rangel, a two-fold problem. After branding itself to children from coast to coast, the market for scooters has, not surprisingly, become saturated. “Every (child) who wanted a scooter got a scooter,” he said.

And while the target audience for scooters in Europe is significantly older than in the United States, Rangel conceded that the product’s popularity was overestimated.

Making moves to combat climbing costs, the company announced that by the end of the year all of its ski and snowboard manufacturing would have been moved to China moves that would result in a 15 percent reduction in staff, about 450 jobs.

Producing a line of sporting goods aimed to please the tastes of several different enthusiasts is not easy, given Wall Street’s ever increasing pressure to mark quarter after quarter gains.

But recent setbacks aside, K2 has been able to accomplish where other companies have tried and failed. The company has expanded into virtually every facet of the extreme-sports market while continuing to maintain its credibility among notoriously fickle consumers.

K2 has been able to capitalize on brand loyalty for its Ride snowboards, Planet Earth skateboards and Adio shoes, all of which are popular among the most inner circles of riders. These brands have continued to show double-digit percentage sales growth.