Stock market crashes are something which many investors hope to avoid. However, as long as you have discipline and patience and believe in the stocks you own, a market crash can be a great opportunity to buy stocks.
In fact, companies you already own are some of the best stocks to buy in a market crash. After all, if they aren’t some of the very best companies in Canada, why even own them in the first place?
For me personally, there are plenty of high-quality companies I own that I would love to see significantly fall in price to give me the chance to buy more and grow my position.
However, here are two of the very best, which I’ll buy in a heartbeat if I can get these stocks at an attractive discount.
One of the best defensive growth stocks to buy in a market crash
That’s why one of the best stocks I’ll be waiting to buy in a market crash is Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (TSX: BIP.UN)(NYSE: BIP). Brookfield invests in water, energy, freight, and other key global infrastructure markets.
Stock market crashes create excellent opportunities to buy stocks from almost every sector and industry for dirt-cheap. But some of the best to buy are businesses that are not only high quality but also highly reliable and hardly ever go on sale.
Brookfield is an exceptional stock because its assets are all highly essential and therefore defensive, constantly earning the stock tonnes of cash flow. In addition, though, Brookfield operates as a growth stock.
So you can have confidence owning the business in any economic environment, but unlike most other highly defensive companies, you can continue to expect significant growth over the long haul.
In the last two and a half years (10 quarters), the stock’s revenue and funds from operations (FFO) have increased by 101% and 38%, respectively. And for the last five years up to the end of 2021, Brookfield’s FFO/share has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.3%.
But because it’s so reliable, Brookfield is trading at just 5% off its 52-week high. Therefore, if it were to sell off significantly in a market crash, it’s easily one of the top stocks I’d look to buy first.
Green energy stocks are wise long-term investments to make today
In addition to an exceptional defensive growth stock like Brookfield, green energy companies such as Northland Power (TSX: NPI) have many of the same qualities and are also some of the best stocks to buy in a market crash.
Building enough green energy to significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels will take decades, making these highly defensive stocks some of the most reliable growth stocks you can buy and hold for the long haul.
For that reason, these stocks hardly ever trade undervalued, which is why they pose an enticing buying opportunity in a market crash.
In addition to the entire green energy industry having significant long-term tailwinds, Northland has consistently been one of the most efficient operators of green power generating assets in the space and, therefore, a top growth stock.
In the past five years, it has grown both its revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by over 90% and 93%, respectively. EBITDA is a good measure of a company’s profitability on an operating level.
And going forward, the stock currently has 2,598 megawatts of net generating capacity. However, the green energy provider also has another 1,958 megawatts of net generating capacity in construction or advanced development. That’s over 75% of its current capacity set to come online within just a few years.
Therefore, given its incredible reliability and long-term growth potential, Northland Power is certainly one of the top stocks I’ll be buying in a stock market crash.
