Goldman Sachs analyst David Tamberrino upgraded Ford Motor (F) to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $12 from $9.

While the analyst still expects a "downward earnings trajectory" into 2019 as North America profit remains under pressure, he believes next year will represent "trough earnings" for Ford. The combination of a refreshed product cadence globally, as well as cost improvements from strategic initiatives, will begin to take hold in 2019, Tamberrino tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes Ford "can put itself on a pathway to earnings that are above normalized EPS by 2021."

With investor sentiment still skewed toward General Motors (GM) over Ford, incremental announcements regarding plant closures and business decisions around under-performing product lines would likely be viewed positively, says Tamberrino. In addition, he believes Ford's current regular dividend "appears manageable." All in, he sees a potential for a total return of approximately 40% over the next year for Ford shares. The stock in premarket trading is up 25c to $9.23.