---
title: "American Water Works: Business Model"
description: "American Water Works business model from its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K: one reportable segment, its revenue, significant expense categories and profit."
canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/business-model/
source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com"
---

# American Water Works: Business Model & Revenue Engine



## Direct Answer

American Water Works reports a single business segment in its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, so the whole company is managed and measured as one business. That segment's revenue was $4.7 billion (up 9.9% from the prior year), and its largest cost line was utilities operating expense maintenance and operations at 35% of revenue, leaving net income of $1.1 billion.

## How Does American Water Works Make Money?

Since 2024, US accounting rules (ASU 2023-07) require even a single-segment company to disclose the significant expense categories its management reviews. These are the amounts American Water Works tags to its one segment, as a share of that segment's revenue.

| Line | FY2025 | FY2024 | Share of revenue |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Regulated and unregulated operating revenue** | $4.7 billion | $4.3 billion | 100.0% |
| Utilities operating expense maintenance and operations | $1.6 billion | $1.5 billion | 34.8% |
| Utilities operating expense depreciation and amortization | $883 million | $772 million | 18.7% |
| Interest expense | $474 million | $416 million | 10.0% |
| **Net income** | $1.1 billion | $1.1 billion | 24.1% |

## What a Single Segment Does and Does Not Tell You

One reportable segment means management runs American Water Works as one business; it does not mean the company sells one product. Revenue can still be spread across products, customers and countries that the filing describes in its revenue note or Item 1 without tagging them as segments. Cost lines are the company's own categories, so they compare across years within American Water Works more safely than against another company, and lines that are not listed are included in other expense totals rather than missing.

## Where These Numbers Come From

Every figure on this page is a value American Water Works reported in the segment note and revenue disclosures of its Form 10-K filed February 18, 2026 (accession 0001410636-26-000034), read from the SEC's Financial Statement Data Sets. The prior-year column is the comparative figure from that same filing, so it reflects any restatement for a change in segments. Category names are the company's own XBRL labels, lightly reformatted for reading.

Rows that only total other rows (for example a "Products" line beside the individual products) are left out so nothing is counted twice. This page is educational and describes reported history for fiscal 2025; it is not a forecast or a recommendation.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How many business segments does American Water Works have?

One. In its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, American Water Works reports a single reportable segment, so its chief operating decision maker reviews the business as a whole rather than by division.

### What are American Water Works's biggest costs?

The segment expenses American Water Works reports, largest first: utilities operating expense maintenance and operations ($1.6 billion, 35% of revenue), utilities operating expense depreciation and amortization ($883 million, 19% of revenue) and interest expense ($474 million, 10% of revenue).

### How profitable is American Water Works's business?

Net income was $1.1 billion in fiscal 2025, a margin of 24.1% on revenue of $4.7 billion.

## References

- [SEC EDGAR: American Water Works Company, Inc. Form 10-K filed February 18, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1410636/000141063626000034/awk-20251231.htm)
- [SEC EDGAR: American Water Works Company, Inc. annual and quarterly filings](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=1410636&type=10-K)
- [SEC: EDGAR application programming interfaces (XBRL frames and submissions data)](https://www.sec.gov/search-filings/edgar-application-programming-interfaces)
- [SEC: Financial Statement Data Sets](https://www.sec.gov/data-research/sec-markets-data/financial-statement-data-sets)

## Related Pages

- [American Water Works company dossier](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/)
- [American Water Works financial metrics](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/metrics/)
- [American Water Works financial risk indicators](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/risks/)
- [American Water Works peer comparison](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/competitors/)
- [American Water Works business model and revenue mix](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/companies/american-water-works/business-model/)
- [Fundamental analysis guides](https://www.getswoopr.com/learn/fundamental-analysis/)





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