Apple's "Award" to Finisar Looks Like Prepayment for 3D Sensing Components

Yesterday, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced that it had awarded $390 million to Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) as part of a brilliant bet on the future of 3D sensing. However, Apple interchangeably referred to this sum as an "award" as well as an "investment," which led to some head-scratching among investors. Did Apple take a stake in Finisar? Confusion around the answer to that question may have contributed to the 23% pop that Finisar shares enjoyed yesterday.

Oddly, there wasn't a similar misunderstanding when Apple announced an award/investment in Corning earlier this year (and Corning shares barely budged), though the award was even more explicitly referred to as "Apple's investment," while yesterday's announcement mostly referred to "Finisar's significant investment."

A Finisar worker wears specialized gear in the manufacturing area of the Allen, Texas, facility. Image source: Apple.

Source: Fool.com