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With Wal-Mart (WMT) focusing again on its strength of low prices and timely discounts and price cuts, some are thinking they may start appealing to more middle-class shoppers than in the past.

Citing an article in Barron's, a Reuters report said that while "the company has been hurt by slowing sales, strategic missteps and customers' tightening purse strings ... efforts to improve margins and cash flow are starting to show early signs of success and the company recently raised profit projections for the third quarter because of lower expenses."

Wal-Mart has already cut prices on a number of toys in the store, in anticipation of the Holiday season, and is expected to do the same with consumer electronics sometime soon.

This could be a huge win for them if this happens, and it could cut dramatically into Targets' (TGT) sales as well. The company has made some errant moves in an attempt to draw more middle-class shoppers into the store. It'll be interesting to see if it happens by default and economic concerns, rather than changing the way the store runs.