Samsung Electronics was the domestic stock most gifted by parents to their minor children last month, accounting for more than half of all gifts, data showed.

KB Securities said on Monday that an analysis of stocks gifted to children aged 18 and under through its customers' stock-gifting service showed Samsung Electronics ranked first with 56.3 percent of transactions.

The result is seen as reflecting higher memory prices due to a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and expectations for improved results at Samsung Electronics. Its relatively lower per-share price compared with other large semiconductor shares also helped draw buying interest by reducing the burden of gifting.

Samsung Securities analyst Jongwook Lee (이종욱) said: "With AI demand expanding, we are watching Samsung Electronics, where a recovery in market share in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market is expected and which has secured the largest production capacity (CAPA) among rivals."

Kia took second place with 6.5 percent. Solid sales volumes despite weaker global demand for new cars, gains from a sharp rise in the won-dollar exchange rate and robotics momentum had a positive impact.

Next were Kakao at 6.1 percent, HLB at 3.7 percent, EcoPro BM at 3.6 percent, Deoksan Techopia at 3.0 percent, DS Dansuk at 2.5 percent and POSCO Holdings at 2.1 percent. By contrast, the gift share of SK Hynix, another leading semiconductor stock, was 1.5 percent. The fact that its current per-share price has exceeded 1.4 million won is seen as a burden.

The top 10 domestic stocks most gifted to minor children all posted positive returns last month. By stock, SK Hynix at 59.4 percent, POSCO Holdings at 39.0 percent and Samsung Electronics at 31.9 percent all outperformed the KOSPI's return of 30.6 percent last month. Deoksan Techopia, DS Dansuk, HLB, Kia, Naver, EcoPro BM and Kakao lagged the KOSPI.