I'm using "prized" here as a synonym of "favored"; perhaps it's a bit archaic. I don't intend to alter or misconstrue the meaning of the survey result.
Certainly, a front-end developer has a choice of compile-to-JS languages from which they can choose.
I only see the "Most Popular Technologies" and it has JavaScript at 71% and it's not "prized":
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#most-popular-...
As far as it's popularity is concerned. It's not surprising the in least. If you have anything to do with web development you're going to have to use JavaScript. Making it "popular" out of necessity but not "prized".