net income vs earnings

net income and earnings both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
net income	Yes	No	No	No
earnings	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, net income and earnings are synonyms defined as:

net income and earnings: the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

Other synonyms of net income include lucre, net, net profit, profit, profits.

net income (noun)	earnings (noun)
the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)	something that remunerates
	the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)