The study looked at how companies' likelihood of defaulting on their debts affects their stock returns. By using credit spreads as a measure of default risk, the researchers found that stocks with higher systematic default risk exposure tend to have higher expected returns. This means that companies with higher credit risk premia are likely to have higher stock returns. The study also found that the difference in returns between high and low systematic default risk stocks is mostly due to overall market conditions. Overall, the results show that companies with high systematic default risk exposure do not necessarily have lower returns.