The shoe drops.

Known for its white tennis shoes with diagonal stitching, K-Swiss was popular with teen prepsters in the 1990s, but the company has since struggled to revamp its image into a more "street" brand.

Domestic and global sales are both down compared with last year, but the Westlake Village-based shoe company delivered some relatively good news in its earnings report last week.

Second-quarter earnings were up 21 percent From a year for K-Swiss Inc., to $20 million. The per-share earnings of 58 cents exceeded analysts' expectations of 46 cents, and shares soared 20 percent to $27.74 last week. In a statement, the firm cited "continued investments in marketing, sales and product development for the Royal Elastics brand as well as the expansion of European operations" for its success.

Revenue fell two percent, and president Steven Nichols admitted that domestic business continues to be "soft." "Booking trends," he said, "indicate that a more realistic timeframe for stemming the domestic downturn is now at least the second half of 2007." Still, the company raised third-quarter guidance by $10 million, to $129 million in sales.

K-Swiss' announcement followed closely behind cross-town rival Skechers USA Inc. The Manhattan Beach-based shoe manufacturer's second quarter net income edged up to $17.6 million, from $15.9 million a year ago. But the company' s 40 cent per share return was short of analyst expectations and the company's stock dropped nearly 15 percent to $20.93 last week.

Skechers' Chief Operating Officer David Weinberg said the earnings blip was caused by an accounting shift that pushed some revenue from June into July, suggesting that additional revenue should be reflected in third quarter results.

The company did raise third quarter earnings guidance to 42 cents per share from 37 cents on projected sales of $320 from $310 million. Skechers share price has doubled over the past nine months.

Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at [phone], ext. 235, or at [e-mail].