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 swings to a Q4 GAAP profit as cost cuts helped offset low lithium prices, but adjusted results missed analyst 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.