Shares of Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) have declined by double digits since reaching a 52-week high of $9.65 back in January.  From my vantage point, though, the recent pullback in S stock has created a solid buying opportunity, especially as the company continues to benefit from its combination of cost cuts and network investments.

And with the possibility of a merger with T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) still on the table, there are tons of growth catalysts that can send Sprint shares toward $10 to $10.50 per share, delivering 20% to 25% returns in the next 12 to 18 months.

Why You Should Buy Sprint

Sprint hasn’t given investors much to be excited about this year, with shares flat in 2017 versus a nearly 8% rise for the S&P 500 index. This includes more than 13% declines over the past three months.

At the same time, however, S stock has made investors tons of money over the past year, soaring more than 130% from its 52-week low of around $3.50.

While Sprint has cooled off of late, the market has largely responded to the operational improvements Sprint has made under the leadership of CEO Marcelo Claure.

Notably, these improvements — which includes subscriber growth, cash flow and debt reduction, — have come as AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VZ) ramp up their investments in 5G technology aimed at squeezing smaller players out of the U.S. mobile services market.

And although Sprint has announced its own 5G technology plans, in association with its investor SoftBank Group Corp (OTCMKTS:SFTBF) and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), the market has yet to price in Sprint’s growth potential.

What’s more, Sprint continues to aggressively push out new promotions and strategies to entice subscribers to defect from Verizon and AT&T. This strategy seems to be working as evidenced by the company’s strong profits reported due to an increase in subscribers. In the most recent reported quarter, Sprint lost 118,000 postpaid subscribers but gained 125,000 wholesale and 180,000 prepaid customers.

Plus, as of the end of Q1, Sprint had 59.702 million wireless customers, up 1.5% year-over-year. This includes 31.576 million postpaid, 11.992 million prepaid and 16.134 million wholesale customers. Total segment revenue was $8,167 million, up 6.7% YOY. remarkably, free cash flow during the quarter was $394 million compared with a mere $3 million in the prior-year quarter.

And aside from the improving fundamentals, Sprint — citing data it garnered from Nielsen Mobile Performance results — claims it has the fastest LTE network.

Using Nielsen speed performance data, which is pulled from mobile downloads and cites over 270 million people across the U.S., Sprint calculates that its network is 5% faster than T-Mobile, 10% faster than Verizon and 24% faster than AT&T.

How much is that worth in stock performance? The next 12 to 18 months will answer that question.

Bottom Line for S Stock

Once thought to be on the verge of bankruptcy, Sprint has mounted an impressive recovery to the extent where the company now has more than $8 billion in cash on the balance sheet with another $4 billion in operating cash flow. Plus, with deep pockets of SoftBank backing it, Sprint has tons of time to make the moves necessary to help it gain market share from its larger competitors.

Unless the fundamentals start to deteriorate, S stock should reach $10, rewarding investors for their patience.

As of this writing, Richard Saintvilus did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.