Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, rose the most in almost two months after Barclays Capital said the automaker’s earnings will improve because of lower costs.

Ford climbed 54 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $12.41 at 3:06 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares earlier increased as much as 5.6 percent, the biggest intraday gain since July 22.

“Investors appear to be ignoring the fundamental increase in Ford’s earnings power even in a slower growth environment, driven by favorable Ford product (and U.S. industry pricing) on top of a stripped-down cost base,” Brian Johnson, a Barclays analyst in Chicago, wrote in a report today. “Ford has compelling upside value.”

Johnson upgraded Ford to “overweight” from “equal weight” and said the shares may rise to $16 in a year, $1 higher than his previous target.

Ford will earn $2 per share this year, topping a consensus estimate of $1.84, he said. North American profit margins before interest and taxes will reach 8.7 percent, near the peak of 9.9 percent the automaker achieved in 2000. Ford earned $4.7 billion, or $1.14 per share, this year through June, its largest first-half profit since 1998.