Few of us actually enjoy watching our ASX shares plunge in value whenever there is a stock market crash, or even a correction, underway. The feeling of fear over that loss of control and money is a natural one. However, these feelings are ones that all successful investors must learn to put aside.
At the end of the day, you never hear about anyone who has gotten rich by selling everything and going to cash in the middle of a major crash.
The richest investors in the world, including the legendary Warren Buffett, instead routinely make a habit of doing most of their buying during times of market panic. They call it buying shares when they're on sale.
It's often the case that the ASX's best shares only undergo serious falls in value during stock market crashes. The rest of the time, the markets are usually placing a premium on these shares, the price we normally have to pay for quality.
So today, let's discuss two such shares that I personally would regard as no-brainer buys during the next market crash, whenever it may come.
2 ASX no-brainer buys for the next stock market crash
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)
ASX 200 tech share and enterprise software company TechnologyOne has been on my watchlist for a while. This stellar performer has been delivering breakneck growth for years. Just today, the company reported a 19% rise in revenues for its 2023 financial year to $41.4 million, as well as a 16% spike in profits before tax to $129.9 million.
Given this continuing growth, it's disappointing, but not too surprising, to see TechnologyOne shares at a lofty price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 54.35 today. At its current share price of $16.03, the tech stock is up a whopping 30% over the past 12 months alone, and up almost 200% over the past five years.
Yet we have often seen big pullbacks in the TechnologyOne share price. Between November 2021 and February 2022, the company lost more than a quarter of its value before recovering to push even higher. If there were a stock market crash tomorrow, I'd be looking very closely at this company indeed.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson And Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)
As has been well documented here at the Fool, I'm a big fan of Washington H. Soul Pattinson, or Soul Patts, shares. This investment house is hands down my favourite share on the ASX. It offers a diversified portfolio of underlying investments, both listed and unlisted, for one.
But it has also delivered market-crushing returns over the past two decades. Not to mention an unrivalled dividend streak that now consists of 23 years of annual dividend pay rises.
In short, this company represents quality of the highest order in my view. But I haven't added to my Soul Patts positions for a while now. That's mainly due to the company's stellar run since mid-2022, which has seen the Soul Patts share price gain more than 40%.
I'll probably bite the bullet and buy some more Soul Patts soon. After all, it was Buffett who once said that it's better to own a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. But if there was a stock market crash tomorrow, and the market is so shortsighted that it throws Soul Patts out with the bathwater, I will certainly be backing up the ruck with this one.
