WALL STREET STOCKS/MARION LABS <MKC>
Marion Laboratories Inc's stock rose
sharply today after the company presented a bullish earnings
scenario at a meeting for pharmaceutical analysts Monday,
traders and analysts said.
    The company said it expects earnings for fiscal 1987,
ending June 30, to rise more than 75 pct over a year ago.
    That pronouncement encouraged analyst David Crossen of
Sanford C. Bernstein and Co to raise his earnings estimates for
the company to 1.28 dlrs a share in 1987, compared to his
previous estimate of 1.20 dlrs a share. Last year the company
earned 70 cts a share.
    Marion's stock gained 3-1/4 to 75-1/2.
    At the meeting of pharmaceutical analysts, Marion's
president Fred Lyons Jr. said Wall Street eanrings estimates of
1.10-1.15 dlrs a share for fiscal 1987 "are expected to cause
even the aggressive side of this range to be 10 to 15 cts low."
    Lyons said the strong performance in the second half of
this year will result from the fourth quarter introduction of
90 mg and 120 mg Cardizem tablets. Analyst Crossen said that
Cardizem, which treats angina, is also expected to be approved
for the treatment of hypertension by the end of the year.
    Crossen said "because Marion is still just a small company,
the growth of Cardizem is having a big impact on the bottom
line." He raised fiscal 1988 earnings estimates to 2.15 dlrs a
share from his previous estimate of 2.05 dlrs a share.
    "The company has a broad new product pipeline in the
industry and as far as I am concerned, it is the most
innovative company in the business," he said.
    For the five years through 1991, Crossen expects Marion to
have a growth rate of 55 pct.
 Reuter
