WALL STREET STOCKS/MARION LABS &lt;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.
  

