A lackluster earnings announcement from Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) last week didn't sink the stock price. Our analysis suggests that along with soft profit numbers, investors should be aware of some other underlying weaknesses in the numbers.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

Importantly, our data indicates that Nordic American Tankers' profit received a boost of US$17m in unusual items, over the last year. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. Nordic American Tankers had a rather significant contribution from unusual items relative to its profit to December 2025. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Nordic American Tankers' Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant positive unusual item makes Nordic American Tankers' earnings a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Nordic American Tankers' statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. Sadly, its EPS was down over the last twelve months. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. If you'd like to know more about Nordic American Tankers as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Nordic American Tankers' profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.