Kimberly-Clark Corp (NYSE: KMB) will raise prices for key products in North America to contend with rising costs for raw materials. The company announced that it would raise prices for its baby, child care and consumer tissue business lines in the second and third quarter. Net selling prices for Huggies diapers will increase by 3 to 7 percent in the US and Canada. The affected product lines contributed more than $4 billion to the company’s 2010 sales.

Filtration system maker Pall Corp (NYSE: PLL) said its fiscal second quarter net profit rose 53 percent to $75.7 million on broad sales growth. Total revenue in the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2011, jumped 15 percent to $645.2 million. The company raised its full-year earnings-per-share guidance to $2.90 from $2.80. The company’s stock climbed to a new 52-week high after the news.

Online search provider Google (NSDQ: GOOG) continues to make inroads in the lucrative smartphone space. Data from research house comScore showed that Google’s mobile phone operating system Android now controls 33 percent of the market. No single Android-run smartphone boasts sales comparable to Apple’s (NSDQ: APPL) iPhone, but the broad proliferation of smartphones have boosted Google’s market share.

Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) received regulatory approval to resume exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron will drill a new well in the Keathley Canyon Block 736, more than 200 miles off the Louisiana coast. This is the first permit for new oil-and-gas exploratory drilling in a field that has yet to produce. Regulators issued the permit after the company met new safety standards enacted after last year’s oil spill.