How did SUI's Q4 earnings surprise impact its annual performance?

Sun Communities (SUI) experienced a significant decline in net income, with a reported $209.1 million loss in Q4 2023, compared to $263.8 million in net income in the same quarter of the previous year. This negative earnings surprise, coupled with a total revenue of $3.22 billion for the year, indicates a challenging financial period for the company.

|code|Ticker|Name|Date|Net Income YoY|Net Income|market_code|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q1|-94.64285714285714|1500000|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q2|-32.698675496688736|8.13E7|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q3|-29.22830867652939|1.77E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q4|-73.15436241610739|4000000|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q1|-3320.0000000000005|-4.83E7|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q2|-361.0086100861009|-2.122E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q3|-23.389830508474578|1.356E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q4|-2205|-8.42E7|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2024 Q1|47.20496894409938|-2.55E7|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2024 Q2|127.52120640904808|5.84E7|169|

|code|Ticker|Name|Date|Total Revenue YoY|Total Revenue|market_code|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q1|24.09502262443439|5.485E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q2|34.84020533200861|8.143E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q3|36.28525500511471|9.326E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2022 Q4|24.317846607669615|6.743E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q1|18.723792160437558|6.512E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q2|6.029718776863564|8.634E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q3|5.436414325541497|9.833E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2023 Q4|7.771021800385585|7.267E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2024 Q1|3.0866093366093366|6.713E8|169|
|SUI|SUI.N|Sun Communities|2024 Q2|0.06949270326615706|8.64E8|169|

The earnings surprise in Q4 2024 was -1.85, which suggests that the company's actual earnings were significantly lower than what analysts had anticipated. This negative surprise likely contributed to the overall decline in net income observed in the annual financial statements. The company's financial performance in the immediate preceding quarter (Q4 2023) and the annual net income figures indicate a substantial impact of the earnings surprise on the company's annual performance.