The tanker market has been slow to recover, but recent improvements have B Riley analyst Liam Burke bullish.

In a note published on Thursday, Burke said he rated all four tanker owners under his coverage — International Seaways, KNOT Offshore Partners, Nordic American Tankers and Scorpio Tankers — as buys ahead of third-quarter earnings likely to be uninspiring.

"With Opec+ production cuts and Covid-19-related global economic weakness, spot tanker earnings for the first half of 2021...