American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., a supplier of axles for General Motors Co. light trucks, rose to its highest mark since September 2008 after a Barclays Capital analyst raised his rating on the shares.

Financial results will beat analysts' estimates as early as this quarter as full-size pickup sales recover after the government's "cash for clunkers" incentive program, Barclays Brian Johnson in Chicago said in a report Friday. He boosted his rating to overweight/neutral from equal weight/neutral.

American Axle jumped $1.02, or 16 percent, to $7.34 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The shares reached the highest since Sept. 22, 2008, and have more than doubled this year.

U.S. light-truck sales fell 14 percent in August while car deliveries rose 16 percent, according to industry researcher Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

The federal Car Allowance Rebate System offered as much as $4,500 for buyers to scrap old vehicles and purchase more fuel-efficient models.

Large pickups are likely to rebound to at least 11 percent share of the U.S. market, above their recent range during cash for clunkers of 9-10 percent, Johnson wrote in a separate note today.

Demand for full-size models such as GMs Chevrolet Silverado 3500, which are often used as work vehicles, also may be boosted by an increase in construction in 2010's first quarter, Johnson wrote.

Pickups have shown the potential in previous downturns to rebound before construction equipment bottoms, he wrote.

American Axle got 77 percent of second-quarter revenue from GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection on June 1 and slashed output.

Analysts expect Detroit-based American Axle to post an adjusted third-quarter loss of 42 cents a share, the average of 7 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The supplier, which has said it's working to restructure its debt out of bankruptcy, is trying to beat a Sept. 15 deadline to rework terms with lenders as required under an agreement with GM for as much as $210 million in financing.

Johnson also reiterated his overweight/neutral rating on Dana Holding Corp., a Toledo, Ohio-based maker of axles used in Ford Motor Co. trucks.

Dana rose 25 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $5.61 in NYSE trading. The shares have jumped more than sevenfold this year.