After finishing off 2017 with a bang (the stock rallied from $32 to $40 in a just a few months), telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has had a rough start to 2018. While the S&P 500 has partied its way to a 7% gain so far in 2018, T stock has fallen by more than 4%.

Will this trend continue? Will AT&T stock continue to under-perform the broader averages in 2018?

I don’t think so. The growth narrative at AT&T is too good right now to be ignored by investors for long.

Indeed, I think T stock is nearing an inflection point. The telecom giant reports quarterly numbers after the bell on Wednesday, January 31. Given bullish trends in the telcom space, I think those numbers will be pretty good. I also expect management to talk up the benefits of tax reform on the call.

That combination could bring T stock back to life.

Here’s a deeper look.

Long-Term Trends Look Good for AT&T Stock

Broadly, AT&T stock is just a investment in 2018.

The stock market’s winners in 2018 will be the big companies that make tons of pre-tax profits, but pay hefty tax rates. When tax rates come down, that will give those big players a lot more cash to work with, implying bigger buybacks, hiked dividends, more investment and super-charged growth.

AT&T is one of those big companies that makes a ton of pre-tax profits, but it currently pays a hefty tax rate. Last year, T paid a 32.7% effective income tax rate on pre-tax profits on nearly $20 billion. Take that tax rate down to 21%, and that will give T in excess of $2 billion more to invest in growth or give back to shareholders.

AT&T is also looking at a strong 2018 thanks to the repeal of net neutrality. For a long time, net neutrality has hindered AT&T’s ability to profit from being a provider of the most essential thing in today’s world — the internet. With net neutrality now gone, T can charge companies higher fees for higher speeds (which leads to more money), while showing a preference for and pushing its own content and services, like DirecTV Now (which also leads to more money).

With high taxes and net neutrality now both things of the past, T stock could boom higher thanks to more money than ever coming through the front door.

T Stock: Near-Term Trends Look Just As Good

But when will investors start taking note of those trends and push T stock higher?

Soon. After the company delivers strong quarterly numbers on Wednesday.

I’m bullish on the report mostly because most comparable peer Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) reported blowout numbers recently. Specifically, Verizon said in their recent quarterly earnings that wireless pricing trends were improving dramatically. Not only are margins at VZ trending up thanks to lower promotional activity and subs heading up in a continued healthy fashion, but the company also just reported its first wireless operating revenue growth quarter in two years.

And the company expects wireless growth to persist.

That is a positive read for AT&T. Clearly, the cutthroat pricing environment, which has long defined the wireless carrier industry is now easing. That means revenues and margins should trend up healthily for AT&T stock.

This trend won’t be short-lived. One of the reasons I like VZ stock is because after years of wireless service being commoditized, the roll-out of 5G finally offers the best service providers an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the pack and up their pricing. Verizon is No. 1 in terms of breadth and depth of coverage in the United States.

Number two? AT&T.

From this perspective, I think that AT&T will say on Wednesday that not only did wireless trends continue to improve over the past three months, but that the outlook for them will continue to improve over the next 6-12 months as 5G rolls out and is quite promising. That should send T stock materially higher.

Bottom Line on T Stock

The only reason not to buy T stock here is that the company’s traditional linear TV business will keep falling out thanks to cord cutting. But AT&T has already hedged for that by creating its own over-the-top offering in DirecTV Now, which has good scale and is gaining momentum.

Outside of that, with net neutrality gone, big taxes gone, 5G coming and wireless pricing trends already improving, now is a perfectly rationale time to be invested in T stock.

This stock could break out in 2018. And that breakout could start on Wednesday with strong numbers.

As of this writing, Luke Lango was long T and VZ.