Has Syntex Run Out Of Steam?

Not so long ago, Syntex Corp. was on the cutting edge. In the 1950s, its scientist-founders invented the birth control pill, which helped usher in the sexual revolution. By the mid-'70s, it had another blockbuster, naproxen. That arthritis pain reliever fueled steady growth at Syntex and last year accounted for 48% of its $2 billion in sales and an even larger share of its $472 million in earnings. Naproxen's patent runs out in December, but Syntex had new products ready. So 16 months ago, with the stock at 50, drug analyst Neil B. Sweig titled a report: "Buy now to catch the dawn."

These days, dawn looks more like dusk. In its fiscal third quarter, ended Apr. 30, Syntex took a $140 million charge to pay for a restructuring and layoffs, cutting share earnings to 18 , from 56 a year ago. Analysts say profits this year could be down as much as 7% to 10%, and by late June, Syntex was trading around 181 2--a plunge in shareholder value of $8 billion-plus since January, 1992.