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AAPL

Two Blue Chip Stocks I'd Buy Into This Week's Weakness Without Hesitation

April 02, 2026 — 09:25 pm EDT

Written by

James Hires for

The Motley Fool->

Key Points

- The market is down across the board, with the S&P dropping 6% this year.

- Apple is down 8% and remains one of the world's dominant tech companies.

- Coca-Cola is down 7.3% this month, and its yield has spiked to 2.7% as a result.

- 10 stocks we like better than Apple ›

Whenever the market tanks across the board, we get a great buying opportunity. A majority of stocks will be down by no fault of their own. The companies are still as fundamentally strong as ever, but shares of them can be picked up at a rare discount.

This is particularly beneficial when it comes to blue chip stocks, which are usually fairly expensive because they're such reliable return generators. So, they're almost universally worth picking up when they get knocked down by broader market conditions.

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And, largely due to the current conflict in the Middle East, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) (which includes many blue chip stocks) is down over 6% this year.

So, which blue chips are worth adding to your portfolio or expanding your position in during this market decline?

Image source: Getty Images.

Take a bite out of America's real big apple

There's a solid chance you're reading this on an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) device, be it an iPhone, iPad, or Mac laptop or PC.

The company's shares are also down 8% this year, presenting us with a fantastic buying opportunity in the original American big-tech stock because, despite the decline in its shares, the company is still one of the most dominant tech stocks in the world.

First, there are smartphones, the segment Apple invented when it dropped the iPhone in 2007. Here Apple remains a major global contender, neck and neck with its main rival Samsung, and as of January 2026, it overtook Samsung and reclaimed its spot at No. 1.

Globally, the iPhone holds a 20% share of the smartphone market, and in the United States, its home market, it remains far and away the favorite, with 69% market share as of the end of 2025.

In the PC market, Mac desktops and laptops have always had a more niche market than Windows, and that remains the case, with Windows holding a 68.27% market share globally. However, in the United States, Macintosh is the single largest operating system, with 31.94% market share.

And, while Apple has lagged in artificial intelligence (AI) development relative to its peers, it is working quickly to rectify that. It has partnered with Alphabet and now bases its own AI models on Google's Gemini program.

So, soon Apple's products will likely have the same AI features on offer by its competitors in the hardware space, like Samsung or Microsoft.

Finally, it's worth noting that the company is still growing rather quickly despite being well into its maturity as a business. For the first quarter of its fiscal 2026 (ended Dec. 27, 2025), Apple recorded revenue of $142.8 billion, up 16% over Q1 of its fiscal 2025. It also recorded earnings per share (EPS) growth of 19% year over year.

Apple also runs a 27% net profit margin and has a relatively healthy balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. That's a little higher than I like to see, but it has brought that ratio down over the past few years. It was at 2.61 back in 2022.

So, consider adding a few shares of Apple to your portfolio while we have an opportunity to buy them at a discount.

Pure Americana

Even if you prefer Pepsi or Dr. Pepper or whatever else, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is the world's favorite soda, and the company holds a 50% share of the global beverage market.

The company's brand and logo are two of the most recognizable in the world and are wrapped up in childhood nostalgia and classic Americana for many of us.

It also pays a solid dividend, which, due to market conditions dragging Coca-Cola's shares down 7.3% over the past month, yields 2.7% at current prices. When it comes to blue chip dividend stocks, it's particularly important to scoop them up when the market drags them down.

Lower share prices mean higher yields. And with a high but healthy payout ratio of 67.11%, Coca-Cola's dividend is likely to remain strong moving forward. It's also worth noting that Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, or a company that has raised its dividend for 50 years in a row, with its streak at 64 years.

Now, historica