** Shares of America’s Car-Mart CRMT.O down 11.9% at $44.02 premarket as co plans equity raise
** CRMT could open at lowest levels since Mar 2020, if losses hold
** Automotive retailer late Weds announced $65 mln stock offering with Jefferies as sole bookrunner
** Co intends to use net proceeds to pay down its revolver, any remaining for general purposes
** Co has 6.4 mln shares outstanding for ~$320 mln market cap
** On Sept 4, CRMT fell ~16% to close at $50.34 after co posted 5% yr/yr drop in rev in fiscal Q1 to $348 mln on decrease in units sold, and qtrly loss of 15 cents/sh vs LSEG estimate of 66 cents/sh profit
** Through Weds, CRMT down 34% YTD vs Nasdaq's .IXIC 17% advance
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))