When the market is climbing, it’s easy to get excited about investing — you might buy popular stocks of the moment and benefit from their momentum or look for undiscovered treasures that could be the next to soar. But when indexes slip, investors sometimes hesitate to invest, worrying that, after they buy a stock, it will decline further.

But these times actually offer investors the best investing opportunities. This is because you can get in on high-quality stocks at reasonable prices, and these players may deliver strong returns over the long run. Technology stocks are the perfect example of what to buy during such moments. Since they thrive in growth environments, even the strongest names often falter during periods of market uncertainty.

Though the market isn’t in a correction now, these events happen, so it’s a wise idea to prepare for them. This means planning which stocks might make interesting buys the next time such a movement takes place. Let’s check out the smartest tech stock to buy during every market correction. It’s not what you’d expect.

What’s a correction?

First, let’s answer a key question. What is a market correction? This is a decline of 10% to 20% in a major index, and it could happen as a result of an external event or simply after a magnificent streak of gains. Corrections may seem unsettling, but they offer investors something very positive: many buying opportunities, particularly in the world of growth stocks.

With such a selection of growth stocks to buy, though, which one should you consider buying during every market correction? You might think of the hottest tech stocks that generally trade at high valuations — after all, during a correction, they surely will offer you a better entry point.

But the smartest tech stock to buy at such a moment actually is a company that’s maintained a steadier valuation in recent years, has demonstrated its ability to recover after every market downturn, and has a fantastic moat or competitive advantage. I’m talking about Apple (AAPL +0.38%), maker of the world’s best-selling smartphone and other leading devices.

Today’s Change

(0.38%) $1.14

Current Price

$298.98

Outperforming the Nasdaq

The chart below shows that Apple has greatly outperformed the Nasdaq Composite over the past decade.

^IXIC data by YCharts

And this brings me to the subject of Apple’s moat, which has led to a long track record of earnings growth.

AAPL Net Income (Annual) data by YCharts

Apple’s moat involves the strength of its brand. The company has maintained a customer retention rate of about 90% as users return for the latest update of the iPhone — and today this is leading to an entirely new revenue opportunity, the sales of services. So, now that Apple has a massive user base — and one that sticks around — the company can count on selling these customers everything from digital entertainment to storage. This means Apple benefits when it sells the device and on an ongoing basis, as the customer pays for services. Apple has reported record services revenue in recent quarters, and it’s very likely that this will continue.

It’s also important to note that, during a market downturn, customers wouldn’t necessarily abandon their Apple devices or switch to another brand — instead, they might delay an upgrade. So while Apple’s revenue could slip during a tough economic phase, this situation is likely to be temporary — and an improving economy could actually spur a significant gain as individuals who delayed buying a new phone rush to make the move. Apple’s earnings and stock performance, shown above, support this idea.

Meanwhile, at times when the Nasdaq has declined, Apple has offered investors opportunities to get in on the stock at bargain prices, as you can see in the following chart.

AAPL PE Ratio data by YCharts

And even during times of market growth, Apple’s valuation hasn’t reached ridiculously high levels. Instead, it’s fluctuated within a reasonable range — this is positive because it leaves the stock room to run.

All of this means Apple is a fantastic stock to buy during every market correction and one to hold onto as the market recovers and goes on to climb.