3 Dependable Dow Jones Stocks to Buy Now

One of the inevitabilities of being invested in the market is watching your portfolio take a downturn during bouts of market volatility. Regardless of how much experience you have, it never gets any easier to sit tight while the market pulls back. With that said, market weakness provides often provides fantastic opportunities for investors to add shares of tried and true businesses with reliable earnings.

Adding shares of companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during big down days can be a smart way to pick up high-quality blue-chip names at a discount. With so much uncertainty regarding market sentiment, the economy, and where the major indices will go from here, it makes sense to consider adding dependable Dow Jones stocks that you can rely on to deliver strong earnings and help you avoid exposure to business risks.

Here are 3 dependable Dow Jones stocks to buy now:

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

The fact that Microsoft has been showing some serious relative strength over the last week tells us that it’s a company you can rely on to hold up well if the market continues to falter. This mega-cap technology company is a fantastic choice for long-term investors, as Microsoft continues to take advantage of trends like the digital transformation of enterprises all over the world. It’s hard to imagine that a lot of workers will be heading back to the office full-time after working remotely for over a year, which means the demand for Microsoft’s PCs, productivity software, and cloud offerings will be steady going forward.

While Microsoft has a diversified business with plenty of different high-margin products, the company’s Azure Cloud business is really what should have investors excited. It offers customers advantages like providing a way to test and move select workloads into the cloud and easily migrate applications and data since many organizations are already working with Microsoft software. Azure revenue grew by 50% in Q3 and should continue providing exceptional top-line growth for years to come. There’s also the fact that the company’s market-leading position in areas like operating systems and productivity software generates plenty of cash that in turn can be invested to grow Azure.

Nike (NYSE:NKE)

Another dependable Dow Jones stock to consider buying at this time is Nike, a company with so many different things working in its favor at this time. First, the company’s NIKE Brand Digital business is thriving amidst a shift in consumer preferences and generated 41% year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 even with physical stores reopening. The growth in this part of the company’s business has been exceeding expectations and should continue playing a key role in Nike’s growth strategy going forward. There’s also the fact that people are starting to play sports again, which is certainly a positive for one of the largest athletic footwear and apparel companies in the world.

Investors should also be attracted to the company’s growth potential in emerging markets like China, which delivered 24% year-over-year sales growth in FY 21. Nike’s brand has never been stronger, and the company is also known for its strength in marketing, which is part of why investors can depend on the company for years to come. The stock received a nice boost after the company’s latest earnings beat and is without a doubt one of the most attractive retail stocks out there.

3M Company (NYSE:MMM)

Sometimes, boring is good when it comes to building a diversified portfolio. While 3M’s products and services aren’t necessarily exciting, they play a key role in manufacturing, industrial, health care, safety, and consumer end markets. That means investors can depend on 3M to outperform the economy during periods of weakness and generate steady cash flows that are returned to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. The stock offers investors a 2.92% dividend yield at this time and is a solid stock to consider buying if you are interested in a potentially undervalued industrial business.

3M saw its sales increase to $8.9 billion in Q1, up 9.6% year-over-year, and is seeing robust demand for its Safety & Industrial products given that it produces gear that has been essential during the pandemic like N95 respirators. It’s also a solid reopening stock to consider, as the company’s Transportation & Electronics segment should see a nice bounce back as the economy continues to recover. The bottom line here is that 3M is the type of stock that investors can rely on for cash flows and consistency in nearly any market environment, which is certainly an attractive quality.