Nordic American Tankers (NAT) Ltd’s shares yesterday first plunged and then rocketed after its earnings missed analysts’ estimates.

The oil tanker operator, which is based in Bermuda, posted earnings of $30.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, or 34 cents per share, falling short of Wall Street analysts’ forecast of 46 cents per share.

Shares plunged as much as 12 per cent before dramatically reversing direction in mid-afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Just after 3pm Bermuda time, more than 3 million NAT shares traded in the space of 15 minutes, an extraordinary event for a stock that has had an average daily trading volume of 1.7 million shares over the last 12 months.

During the same quarter of an hour, the share price rocketed from $10.12 to $11.99 — a swing of more than 18 per cent.

Herb Hansson, chief executive officer of NAT, gave an interview to US business channel CNBC yesterday afternoon.

NAT shares closed the day at $11.95, having risen as high as $12.89 in mid-afternoon trading and as low as $9.94 in the morning.

Trading volume topped 11.4 million shares, nearly seven times more than the average.

Low oil prices have stimulated demand for crude oil and for the huge ships that transport it. In addition, on-land storage capacity has rapidly filled up amid global oversupply, creating the potential for tankers being chartered for storage in the coming months.

NAT estimates it needs charter rates to be at $12,000 a day per vessel in order to break even on operating its fleet of 24 Suezmax vessels, each of which can hold about one million barrels of oil.

In the fourth quarter, NAT averaged rates of $39,800 per day per vessel, up from $24,000 a year earlier.

The 43 cents per share dividend NAT will pay out to shareholders this week will be its 74th consecutive dividend since 1997.

Herb Hansson, NAT’s chief executive officer, said: “For a variety of reasons, NAT has an operating model that has proven itself to be sustainable in both a weak and a strong tanker market.

“Accretive fleet growth, low net debt per vessel and quarterly dividend payments are central elements of the strategy. NAT has one type of vessel — the Suezmax vessel — that can carry one million barrels of oil.

“A homogenous fleet reduces our operating costs, which helps to keep our cash-breakeven below $12,000 per day per vessel.”