Albemarle, the world's largest producer of lithium, swung to a quarterly profit as cost cuts helped offset low prices of the electric vehicle battery metal, but adjusted results reported on Wednesday fell short of analysts' expectations.

Albemarle, the world's largest producer of lithium, said on Wednesday it swung to a quarterly profit as cost cuts helped offset plunging prices for the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries. The company posted a profit for the fourth quarter ended December 31 of $33.